Indirect taxes came to customs free products

Last year in January, we reported that the customs exemption for e-commerce was decreased from EUR 30 to EUR 22. Recently, Mr. Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Treasury and Finance, stated that over 26 million parcels were sent to our country through China in 2018, and that no tax was collected for items shipped within these parcels.

Mr. Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Treasury and Finance

In his speech, giving the signals that tax may be collected on products with a value less than EUR 22, Albayrak underlined that we had to support our domestic economy and take steps. According to the information shared by Sputniknews, a three-stage plan is being worked on for the taxation of informal trade of 20 billion TRY.

The most important of these plans are the abolition of the tax exemption applied to sales below EUR 22 and the minimization of the tax difference between individual import and corporate import. No formal decision has been taken to abolish the tax exemption for sales below 22 Euros, but it seems that indirect taxes have started to be imposed on these products.

Days after the Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak's statement, the people who made purchases from abroad came across with expressions such as customs presentation fee and stamp tax. We should also mention that so many Tweets have been posted on Twitter about the subject as the customs presentation fee and stamp tax became a part of our daily lives.

5,20 TRY will be charged!

In short, tax was applied on products received from abroad that were exempt from duty, shortly after the statement of Mr. Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Treasury and Finance. The fee of TRY 5,20 is called customs presentation fee and stamp tax.

TRY 5,20 will be paid for each product exempt from duty with weight under 2 kg in total, TRY 4.50 as customs presentation fee and TRY 0,70 as customs tax. Please note that you will pay 5,20 TRY for each product you buy from abroad with a value up to 22 Euros.

In short, even for products with a value below TRY 5.20, you may pay TRY 5,20 customs presentation fee and stamp tax. According to the information shared by Dr. Ozan Bingol, this price is in exchange for the customs officers' effort to check your parcel for reassurance.

E-commerce sites like Aliexpress and GearBest make sales with a value over 22 Euros but present them cheaper to be exempt from customs duty. Controlling imported packages seems to be a successful way to detect such purchases. However, it should be said that it is not a fair method to reflect the service fee of TRY 5,20 to citizens due to the control of products with a value under 22 Euros that are not subject to customs tax. We estimate that a ministry statement on the details of this practice will be made in the coming days.

Image Source: Twitter /sinerjimagduru

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