The changes concern, inter alia, the import from third countries of small consignments with an intrinsic value of up to EUR 22, that have so far been exempt from VAT.
From 1 July 2021, the electronic commerce (so-called e-commerce) rules are due to change. The changes concern, inter alia, the import from third countries of small consignments with an intrinsic value of up to EUR 22, that have so far been exempt from VAT. This is an amendment that is to be implemented across the EU to reduce the discriminatory environment for European e-shops (which were not covered by the exemption).
However, the amendment has still not been implemented in the VAT Act and is currently awaiting approval by the Senate. For the period before the amendment is implemented in the Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic, the General Financial Directorate has responded by issuing official information on how to proceed in this situation.
According to the General Financial Directorate, small consignments up to EUR 22 are still exempt from VAT. For the time being, it is not necessary to follow the rules of the new European Directive, but due to long delivery times, a customer purchases goods may be exempt from VAT from a third country (before the amendment enters into force), the amendment then enters into force and goods originally exempt from VAT will then be subject to VAT upon entry into the EU (released into free circulation). In such a case, payment of VAT will be demanded from the customer by the customs office, which may detain the consignment.
Following the implementation of the European Directive, VAT on goods up to EUR 150 can be paid in one of several ways:
- VAT is paid directly by the declarant (as a rule, the consignee for the goods) to the customs office within the standard customs procedure,
- VAT is paid, instead of by the consignee for the goods, by a person (usually a transport company) who is registered under the new special regime for the import of low-value goods,
- VAT will be paid by a person registered in the new special regime of a single administrative place within the import regime (Import One-Stop-Shop - IOSS), which is usually the supplier of goods or the operator of the electronic interface.
Goods up to EUR 22 are still not subject to customs duties, as the intrinsic value of the goods must exceed EUR 150 for these to be payable. To facilitate the standard customs procedure, it is now possible to file a customs declaration electronically via the eCeP application available at www.celnicka.cz.
