The sales tax reform ensures that parcels from abroad will become more expensive in the future.
DHL is now charging a flat-rate service fee.
Brussels - One of the biggest changes since the Treaty on European Union in 1993 is now having a real impact on consumers.
In addition to other changes, the sales tax reform has also been in effect since July 1, 2021.
This affects all retailers who sell their products across borders.
This can indirectly result in higher prices for parcels from non-EU countries in the future - around 100 million parcels are affected each year.
Post / DHL: What will the sales tax reform bring?
“This is intended to prevent competitive advantages from being gained by fraudulent activity through unpaid sales taxes,” explains André Schwarz, deputy chief executive of the Federal Association of Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA)
, according to
a report in the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
.
In future, every package that is delivered from outside the European Union will go through customs.
This makes it less easy for the content to be incorrectly declared.
Up until now, more expensive products were often declared as cheaper by retailers in order to save sales tax.
More expensive parcels: This will change for DHL customers from July 1st
Until now, there was an exemption limit for shipments with a goods value of up to 22 euros (excluding shipping costs). This will no longer apply from July 1st. In the future, where the package comes from will decide which tax rate is due for the import. This is good news for traders from the European Union: Up until now, they have had competitive disadvantages compared to companies from other countries due to the special tax route.
For customers, this change for the parcel delivery services UPS and DHL means that they will have to reckon with an extra service fee of six euros. The parcel services advance the fee, consumers then pay it either directly to the parcel service at their doorstep or in the post office. Simply not paying does not help: If a package has been at customs for too long, storage costs of EUR 0.50 per calendar day are due. According to DHL, they are only collected from the tenth day.
In addition to the flat-rate service charge, 19 percent or a reduced seven percent import sales tax is due.
This applies to goods with a value of up to 150 euros.
If the value of the goods exceeds 150 euros, customs duties will also be charged in addition to the import sales tax and the flat-rate service charge.
The prices for this may vary.
Customs costs for textiles from the Far East could, for example, amount to twelve to 13 percent of the value of the goods, as reported by the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
.
DHL expects "nasty surprises" for customers
According to DHL, there could be nasty surprises, as the new regulation does not depend on the order date of the goods. Customers who ordered before July 1st also have to pay the fee if the package arrives at customs on or after July 1st. This is reported, among others, by
Focus Online
.
But there is also good news: Shipments between private individuals remain tax-exempt up to a value of 45 euros.
If an online shop is already registered in the EU, there is also no fee.
The same applies if the online shop pays VAT in a country that is part of the European Union.
This works via a one-stop-shop (OSS) portal.
This means that retailers collect VAT centrally for all EU countries.
In large shops such as Amazon, Asos and H&M, there is usually no extra charge for customers.
EU Commission: "More transparency for customers"
According to the EU Commission, the regulation should also eliminate hidden additional costs and increase transparency for customers, as reported by the
German Press Agency
(dpa). When ordering in third countries, consumers have so far sometimes had to pay extra costs for registration with customs by the transport company. From now on the indicated price should be the final price.
It is not undisputed whether the new regulation will succeed in preventing competitive advantages from being gained by fraud. "One omission is clearly the lack of an EU-wide database on the basis of the customs tariff numbers and the identification of the national tax rate allocation," said Schwarz from the BGA to the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
. The industry association for online and mail order business nevertheless sees the regulation as a “step forward”.
