How are customs duties calculated for overseas shopping?

In recent years, with the development of domestic overseas shopping websites, many Chinese who cannot go abroad have also started to buy foreign promotional products online. However, many people do not know how customs levy taxes during overseas shopping. Tencent Technology briefly introduces my country's relevant policies and tax calculation methods.

What is customs clearance?

First of all, we should understand a term: customs clearance. Customs clearance is also called "customs clearance", which means that when import and export goods and transit goods are transported into or out of the customs, they must be declared, and various procedures stipulated by the customs must be completed, as well as various obligations must be fulfilled. During the customs clearance period, all goods are under the supervision of the customs and are not allowed to circulate freely.

What are tariffs?

Tariffs are a type of tax that the state authorizes the customs to levy on goods and articles entering or leaving the country. Generally speaking, tariffs are a high-level tax type with tax rates set by the highest administrative unit of each country. Especially for countries with developed foreign trade, tariffs often become the main source of national tax revenue and even national fiscal revenue. If you want to pass through my country's customs on items purchased overseas, you will have to pay "import tariffs".

How is tax calculated?

When we shop overseas, import tariff = duty-paid price × import tariff rate. The "duty-paid price" and "tax rate" are different according to the type of goods. Generally speaking, the "duty-paid price" is the price used by the customs when calculating tariffs. For the convenience of management, the General Administration of Customs, through investigation, takes a reasonable middle price for similar products as the basis for collection.

For items with prices clearly listed in the Duty-Paid Price List, the Duty-Paid Price List shall be directly implemented; if not listed, the Duty-Paid Price List shall be determined based on the recent retail price of the same item in the same place of origin. If the difference between the actual purchase price and the Duty-Paid Price List is too large (more than twice or less than half), the Duty-Paid Price List may be determined based on the shopping invoice or receipt provided by the owner of the item.

Tax exemption

According to the Announcement of the General Administration of Customs (No. 43 of 2010), if the import tax is 50 yuan or less, it will be exempted from tax. Take milk powder as an example. When importing one kilogram of milk powder, the "final tax amount" is the "duty-paid price of milk powder" (200 yuan) multiplied by the "tax rate" (10%), which is 20 yuan. Since it is less than 50 yuan, it is tax-free. However, if the import quantity is 3 kilograms, the tax amount is 3 kilograms × 200 yuan × 10% = 60 yuan (more than 50 yuan), and 60 yuan of tax needs to be paid at this time. This is why some forwarding companies will evade taxes by splitting large packages.

In addition, import tax is a "probabilistic event" of random inspection. Not every transaction will be subject to "import tax". Those goods that are randomly inspected are what buyers often call "taxed". According to feedback from a large number of netizens, the probability of being selected and paying tax is less than one in ten.

Where to pay taxes?

If you are selected and the tax amount exceeds 50 yuan, you need to pay the tax. There are two ways to pay the tax: EMS collection and forwarding company recharge and payment. For the former, you only need to give the money to the EMS postman, and for the latter, you can recharge on the forwarding company website. (Sun Han)

Overseas Shopping Tax Calculation Process

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.