The new regulations of the General Administration of Customs to adjust the management of inbound and outbound personal postal items have been formally implemented. Items that have been imported into China for goods subject to import duty of more than 50 yuan will be taxed in full in accordance with the value of the goods. With the adjustment of this policy, the customs will not only strictly supervise the mailed items, but also comprehensively increase the inspection of passengers' articles and avoid the loss of state taxation. Overseas purchasing may face a reshuffle.


Customs new regulations: 50 yuan is the standard line for the collection of quotas


According to the latest regulations of the General Administration of Customs of China, since September, if the import duty of goods entering China is more than 50 yuan, all taxes will be taxed according to the value of the goods. The exemption amount is reduced from the current 400 to 500 yuan to 50 yuan.


For some people who believe that the regulation "will increase the cost of overseas purchasing", the relevant person in charge of the Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs retorted that China has different management requirements for different regulatory objects such as goods and articles that are different for imported goods. Goods purchased overseas are not goods, but goods. For goods, regardless of the value, you need to pay taxes according to the regulations.


He said that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a shortage of goods. The total amount of articles entering and leaving the country through the postal channel was small and the content was single, mainly for personal belongings. In order to take care of the overseas Chinese, China has given a certain amount of tax-free concessions to inbound and outbound personal postal items.


Previously, the taxation of personal postal items was carried out in accordance with the immigration tax exemption rules for personal items issued in 1994. According to the regulations, the limit for personal items sent or sent to Hong Kong and Macao is 800 yuan, and the tax allowance is 400 yuan; the personal items sent or sent to other regions are limited to 1,000 yuan, and the tax allowance is 500 yuan.


Significant changes in the nature of mail, lack of consumer protection


The relevant person in charge of the Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs said that most of the incoming mail is no longer a gift from friends and relatives. The nature of inbound and outbound mail has shifted to the nature of transactions. Recently, online shopping, mail order, overseas purchasing and other businesses have developed rapidly. Some lawless elements attempted to split the imported goods into multiple votes, falsely report as personal items, use the personal goods tax allowances, and enter the country through postal and express mail channels to evade supervision. This kind of illegal act not only causes the loss of national tax revenue, but also evades the state's control over imported goods, so that related goods can flow into the domestic market in the absence of safety, sanitation and quality control, and consumers cannot obtain the protection they deserve.


He also said that some overseas purchasing merchants have been found to attempt to hoard goods before implementing a new management policy on September 1.


The person in charge said that in the future, if the personal inbound and outbound articles exceed the prescribed limit, they should go through the formalities of returning or go through customs clearance procedures in accordance with the provisions of the goods. However, there is only one item in the postal parcel and it is inseparable. After being examined, it is personally owned and can be cleared according to the provisions of personal items.


For passengers' own use of goods, the General Administration of Customs of China stipulates that if the resident passengers carry a total value of 5,000 yuan or less and the non-resident passengers carry a total value of less than 2,000 yuan, the customs shall release the tax exemption.


Buyers who sell goods "tax evasion" some products led the rise


Less than a week before the implementation of the new regulations for the management of inbound and outbound personal postal items by the General Administration of Customs, there were media reports that there were already many shopping websites overseas purchasing buyers and sellers vying for time to sprint goods, the price of imported milk powder and imported cosmetics has been Leading the way. In this regard, the seller explained that "the new regulations have increased the cost of overseas purchasing." However, the relevant person in charge of the Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs said that overseas purchasing goods are profitable and must be taxed according to the regulations.


These days before the promulgation of the new regulations, the prices of imported milk powder and cosmetics, which are the main hot items on the website, have risen by 5%-20% compared with the new regulations. According to the overseas purchasing seller, "According to the regulations of the General Administration of Customs, the tax rate for mailing imported cosmetics is as high as 50%, and the duty-paid price for each perfume, eye cream, lotion, etc. is set at 100 yuan, which means the allowance for the past 500 yuan. You can mail 10 perfumes, and now it has become one." And the price is rising, sales are still not decreasing.


According to a survey conducted by the Liberation Daily, in mid-to-late August, the volume of overseas purchasing transactions has a "blowout" trend. In an imported milk powder purchasing online store, the total sales volume in the second half of July was 82. In the first ten days of August, it soared to 307, an increase of nearly 3 times. From August 16 to 26, the sales volume reached 368, with one customer. All of a sudden, I smashed 34 cans of imported milk powder. The "battlefield" of cosmetics snapped up is even more crazy: a shopkeeper specializing in Clinique's cosmetics purchase said that the sales of the brand's signature "small butter" in the store in late August surged: on August 1, some buyers bought 45 bottles at a time; In the 5 days of August 15-19, there were buyers who placed orders to sweep the goods four times. In total, 136 bottles were taken in 5 days, and the transaction price exceeded 25,000 yuan. If a new regulation is implemented, the price of each bottle of "small butter" will rise by about 40 yuan.


Once the new regulations are implemented, there are many sellers who are operating overseas. There are quite a few shops that are purchasing and purchasing. They posted notices on their homepages to complain to buyers, saying that “the cost of purchasing has increased sharply, please don’t bargain”, “the difficulty of customs clearance, serious out of stock, please click on the order. Wait a minute, "I can't refund it."


For some people who believe that the regulation "will increase the cost of overseas purchasing", the relevant person in charge of the Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs retorted that China has different management requirements for different regulatory objects such as goods and articles that are different for imported goods. Goods purchased overseas are not goods, but goods. For goods, regardless of the value, you need to pay taxes according to the regulations.


According to the "Beijing Youth Daily" report, overseas purchasing sellers have come up with a "funding" approach. "As long as you are careful, you should not pay taxes." A seller said that the previous 7-packaged American cranberry can be shipped in a full container, the price is about 740 yuan, mailing personal items, do not need to pay taxes. After September 1st, you can only take the fast track in small packages. The only problem is that it will increase the cost of courier. If you still need to buy 7 bags of cranberry, you need to ship in 3 packages, and the courier fee will increase by 1-2 times. The price of the product is bound to rise.


However, an industry insider said that the seller’s words could not be fully convinced, and that there was still a risk of overseas mailing. Once the customs found that it could not be cleared, it was necessary to pay customs duties and accept punishment.


Overseas purchasing or facing reshuffle


With regard to the adjustment of the management policy for personal postal items in and out of the country, the Customs will not only strictly supervise the mailed items, but also comprehensively increase the inspection of passengers' items and avoid the loss of state taxation. Overseas purchasing may face a reshuffle.


When the media interviewed the Beijing International Post and Telecommunications Bureau Jianguomen Post Office, the post office also significantly increased the inspection of incoming postal parcels. The post office is responsible for Beijing, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. There are nearly 10,000 postal parcels entering the city every day. There is a customs office here, and there are 50 customs stations in the post office like this. In this post office, every parcel was opened for inspection. At the same time, the customs will conduct risk analysis and key tracking on the parcel.


It can be said that since the threshold for postal entry goods has been reduced to 50 yuan, some purchasers are unlikely to evade taxes if they split the goods.


For merchants engaged in overseas purchasing, they face a reshuffle in the industry.


When she was interviewed by the media, Ms. Sun, who is engaged in the purchase of clothing brands in Germany, said that she might switch to luxury shopping in the future. “For luxury mailing, if you add one or two hundred pieces of cost, consumers will not care too much, but for For clothing, it is equivalent to an increase of half the cost."


On Taobao.com, many purchasing points have posted price adjustment announcements, while some cosmetics and bag purchase stores have even posted notices of “suspended business”.


"We are also very embarrassed recently. I don't know what to do in the future." Some online sellers specializing in "overseas purchasing" said that the new policy has a greater impact on them and may prompt them to adjust their business direction.


It is reported that the new Customs policy only involves mailing, and does not involve baggage items of transit personnel. Some online businesses are actively contacting and preparing to use the flight attendants such as flight attendants, tour guides, and international students to carry out tax avoidance by individuals.


At the same time, all kinds of “airport purchasing” and “flight attendant purchasing” have sprung up, and some online stores even used the pictures of flight attendants as “shopping tricks” to attract customers.


Compared with the urgency of other “overseas purchasing” people, these “flight stewardess purchasing” operators are very calm: “Our price is definitely advantageous. In the future, the supply will be sufficient. You can collect our stores.” Some stores even said : "Our price will not be adjusted after September, and it must be 'tax-included price'."


Attachment: Announcement No. 43 of 2010 of the General Administration of Customs (related matters concerning the adjustment of management measures for personal and postal items in and out of the country)


In order to further standardize the supervision of inbound and outbound personal postal items and to take care of the reasonable needs of the recipients and senders, the relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:


1. If an individual mails an entry into the country, the Customs shall levy an import tax according to law, but if the amount of the import tax is less than RMB 50 (including 50 yuan), the Customs shall exempt it.


2. Items sent by individuals or sent to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are limited to RMB 800 each time; items sent or sent to other countries and regions are limited to RMB 1,000 each time.


3. If an individual mails in or out of the country exceeds the prescribed limit, he shall go through the formalities for returning the goods or go through customs formalities in accordance with the provisions of the goods. However, there is only one item in the postal parcel and it is inseparable. Although it exceeds the prescribed limit, if it is personally used by the Customs, it can be cleared in accordance with the provisions of personal items.


4. Commercial mails for import and export of postal goods shall be cleared in accordance with the provisions of the goods.