 23-Feb-18, HTDC Research

The boom years for Russia's legion of online shoppers may be coming to an abrupt end, with the Ministry of Finance looking to impose duty on many cross-border e-commerce purchases. Scheduled for 15-May-18, the new levy will mark the end of the country's five-year duty-free e-commerce shopping spree, that transformed China's AliExpress and JD into major players in the Russian market.

Image: HTDC Research

The new duty-declaration and customs-clearance system will see import taxes levied on goods worth more than EUR1,000 (USD1,233) or weighing more than 31kg in any monthly period.

The regime is set to be adopted across all of the Eurasian Economic Union member-states (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia).

Only a relatively small number of companies will be authorised to provide delivery and clearance services. Business will require a two-year track record as a registered customs agent and be able to secure a bank guarantee of EUR1.5 mn (USD1.9 mn).

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