Russia : The Finance Ministry has reportedly tweaked its proposed reforms to Russia’s duty-free threshold on imported goods bought online, according to the magazine RBC. The new plan would lower the threshold to 500 euros ($579) a month per customer, as of July 1, 2018. Starting on July 1, 2019, the policy would change from monthly import totals to individual package values, with the new threshold set at 100 euros ($115) per parcel, but not to exceed 200 euros ($231) in a single month.
Officials in the finance and communications ministries previously drafted reforms that would have postponed lowering the duty threshold to 500 euros a month until January 1, 2019, and the 100-euro-per-parcel change would have come without monthly restrictions.
In Russia today, you can buy up to 1,000 euros ($1,154) or as much as 31 kilograms (68 pounds) in a month from foreign online stores without paying a special tax of 30 percent (not to exceed four euros per kilogram, or $2.10 per pound).
On June 18, Finance Ministry tax and customs policy head Alexey Sazanov official reportedly said the threshold on duty-free online purchases would fall to 500 euros a month as soon as July 1, 2018, though an unnamed ministry representative later clarified that this is still under debate. According to Vedomosti, Russia’s Federal Customs Service also wants the duty-free threshold lowered, advocating a 20-percent tax on all purchases from foreign online stores.
