Parallel imports will be removed from double taxation

The Ministry of Finance has developed a mechanism for collecting VAT on the principle of “country of destination” when selling goods through electronic trading platforms in order to eliminate the problem of double taxation. This follows from the draft amendments to the Tax Code, published on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts. The bill provides that when goods are sold by Russian taxpayers through electronic trading platforms to individuals in the EAEU countries, VAT is not paid in Russia, a representative of the Ministry of Finance explained. At the same time, when sellers from the EAEU countries sell goods to Russian buyers through electronic trading platforms, VAT will be calculated and paid by these sites to the Russian budget, he said.

Until 2022, online stores from the EAEU countries paid VAT in the “country of origin” of the goods and did not pay VAT in the “country of destination”. Last year, Kazakhstan and Belarus began to levy indirect taxes on the cost of goods sold on their territory (amendments to the tax codes of these countries came into force on January 1 and July 1 last year, respectively). Thus, Russian sellers were forced to pay VAT twice if their goods were bought, for example, in Alma-Ata. Taking into account the size of the tax rate of 12% in Kazakhstan and 20% in Belarus, the additional tax burden on Russian marketplaces will amount to 3.6 billion and 3.8 billion rubles. accordingly, Kommersant wrote with reference to data from the Association of Internet Trade Companies.