Myasnikovich: Foreign parcels collapsed Belarusian trade
The assessed value of foreign parcels ordered in online shops is being deliberately lowered, head of the council of the republic Mihail Myasnikovich claimed. Belarusian citizens received almost 4 million 400 thousand parcels from abroad in the first half of 2015, he said.
"The goods are priced at $5, $10… In reality the prices are different and the budget is not receiving the VAT and duties,” BELTA quotes Myasnikovich.
He suggested imposing the VAT on foreign parcels but the National Bank did not support him referring to technical issues, Maysnikovich reminded. The goods bought by Belarusians abroad have collapsed the Belarusian trade and created problems for the industry, the head of the Council of the Republic stressed.
The Eurasian Economic Commission Council suspected postponing the discussion of new fees for online shopping abroad until December, Euroradio reported yesterday. Only the duty-free limit is going to be significantly decreased. It is 1000 euro in Russia and only 200 euro in Belarus now. Goods that are cheaper than 22 euro and weighing less than 1 kilo will be exempt from duties. If the norm is exceeded, people will have to pay customs duties.
However, Kazakhstan has flatly refused to accept the innovation while Belarus supports the restrictions, the Russian edition Kommersant reports.
Photo: Fotolia. belta.by
