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Alibaba, Amazon, Wish… On July 1, small online purchases should cost 20% more

2021-06-26T18:04:34.601Z


E-commerce giants located outside the European Union have been avoiding 20% ​​VAT on their cheapest products for years.


Alibaba, Amazon, Wish… These e-commerce giants located outside the European Union have enjoyed a significant competitive advantage for years on their products sold for less than 22 euros: they do not pay 20% VAT , unlike all traders located within European borders.

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This legal anomaly, the result of a text designed before the rise of e-commerce, will end on July 1.

VAT will now apply to all these extra-community packages, while customs duties and other taxes will be added for those with a value greater than 150 euros.

For buyers, the bill should climb by 20% ... at least.

More than 150 million packages affected

Similar goods were sold at different prices in the territory. This posed a big problem of competition and a lack for the States in the collection of taxes

”, explains Maître Alexandre Siat, lawyer specializing in customs law at TSG France. The European Commission estimated, in 2016, one year before the drafting of the directive which entered into force on July 1, that 150 million packages entered the Union each year by evading VAT. A figure surely growing since because of the rise of e-commerce and, in the end, a shortfall of several hundreds of millions of euros for the States.

Asian e-commerce giants are particularly targeted by the directive, as they host a large number of low-cost products on their platforms.

They would also have taken advantage of a lack of customs controls to bring a certain number of goods under the threshold of 22 euros, in order not to pay VAT.

The reform now makes them responsible for collecting VAT on behalf of the Member State where the parcel is to be delivered to an individual.

"

I doubt that the marketplaces make an effort on the price

", estimates Maître Alexandre Siat, who has trouble imagining how these additional 20%, in the case of France, would not be passed on.

Especially since VAT is not the only measure that comes to apply to e-commerce sites.

Everything to declare

Their customs declaration obligations have also been reinforced since March 15. "

A new declaration system has been put in place, the platforms will have to describe each good sent, this will facilitate checks, especially since all the information will be concentrated on a single platform,

" explains the specialist in customs law. Companies will therefore have to comply with these new obligations and structure themselves to provide the required information. They will be gradually reinforced and completed until 2024. An obvious source of costs for the latter… and their customers. "

In commerce nothing is free, all additional costs will be postponed

», Concludes Alexandre Siat. If buyers are going to be hurt by a few dollars, for the States it is a jackpot. The European Commission estimated in 2016 that the application of these two measures should allow them to recover 7 billion euros of VAT.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-06-26

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