April 19, 2020
en lt ru
Customs value

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash

The customs value of goods is the basis for the assessment of duties and taxes. It would be complicated for international trade to operate if each country would use its own valuation methods. Therefore international valuation rules were developed. These rules are also used for the purposes of trade statistics, trade agreements and to monitor quantitative restrictions.

“Customs value“ of imported goods on the international scale means the value as determined in accordance with the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation).

WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation sets out that the value for customs purposes of imported merchandise should be based on the actual value of the imported merchandise on which duty is assessed, or of like merchandise, and should not be based on the value of merchandise of national origin or on arbitrary or fictitious values.

"Actual value" should be the price at which, at a time and place determined by the legislation of the country of importation, such or like merchandise is sold or offered for sale in the ordinary course of trade under fully competitive conditions. To the extent to which the price of such or like merchandise is governed by the quantity in a particular transaction, the price to be considered should uniformly be related to either (i) comparable quantities, or (ii) quantities not less favorable to importers than those in which the greater volume of the merchandise is sold in the trade between the countries of exportation and importation.

Please find the text of Article VII. This document is published on the WCO website.

Download

Comments ()

en, lt
Transfer pricing - EU law
12-11-2023

Transfer pricing is a rule that was designed in international taxation to establish which part of the income within a multinational enterprise needs to be allocated between two companies in the same group if they have a transaction between them. The rule, in general, is that they need to act as if they were third parties in order to establish the third-party price. Transfer pricing is important for determining the customs value of goods.

valuation
en, lt
Transfer pricing - EU law
12-11-2023

Transfer pricing is a rule that was designed in international taxation to establish which part of the income within a multinational enterprise needs to be allocated between two companies in the same group if they have a transaction between them. The rule, in general, is that they need to act as if they were third parties in order to establish the third-party price. Transfer pricing is important for determining the customs value of goods.

valuation
en
Three questions about customs value of goods in transactions between the related parties in Ukraine
08-10-2023

The issue of customs valuation is extremely important for Ukraine. The author has written about it in previous issues of the journal. A special case of customs valuation is no exception - when the seller and the buyer are related parties. The concept of "related parties" in Ukrainian legislation is fully compatible with the GATT, as the Customs Code of Ukraine refers directly to Article 15 of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement rather than defining this concept. It would seem that if there is nothing wrong with the legislation and if it is in line with accepted standards and principles, there should be no problems with its application. However, this is not the case.

Dr. Ilona Mishchenko

valuation
en
Three questions about customs value of goods in transactions between the related parties in Ukraine
08-10-2023

The issue of customs valuation is extremely important for Ukraine. The author has written about it in previous issues of the journal. A special case of customs valuation is no exception - when the seller and the buyer are related parties. The concept of "related parties" in Ukrainian legislation is fully compatible with the GATT, as the Customs Code of Ukraine refers directly to Article 15 of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement rather than defining this concept. It would seem that if there is nothing wrong with the legislation and if it is in line with accepted standards and principles, there should be no problems with its application. However, this is not the case.

Dr. Ilona Mishchenko

valuation
en
Transport services VAT exempt because already in import tax base? You will need to prove it!
24-09-2023

The Romanian company provides transportation services. It transported goods from the port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) to Cluj-Napoca (Romania) under transit procedure. Goods were released into free circulation in Romania. It treated transportation service as VAT exempt because it assumed that transportation cost was included into the import VAT taxable base. Tax authorities claimed otherwise: the taxpayer failed to provide documents confirming that the transportation cost was included into the import VAT taxable base. Consequently, they denied the exemption. The dispute between the company and the tax authorities reached as far as the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which recently issued clarifications on the application of the provisions of the VAT Directive in this case.

Mark Rowbotham

valuation
en
Transport services VAT exempt because already in import tax base? You will need to prove it!
24-09-2023

The Romanian company provides transportation services. It transported goods from the port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) to Cluj-Napoca (Romania) under transit procedure. Goods were released into free circulation in Romania. It treated transportation service as VAT exempt because it assumed that transportation cost was included into the import VAT taxable base. Tax authorities claimed otherwise: the taxpayer failed to provide documents confirming that the transportation cost was included into the import VAT taxable base. Consequently, they denied the exemption. The dispute between the company and the tax authorities reached as far as the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which recently issued clarifications on the application of the provisions of the VAT Directive in this case.

Mark Rowbotham

valuation
en
Who is a purchaser in Canada and why does it matter for customs valuation?
17-09-2023

Can a small difference between Canadian customs legislation and the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement really affect the customs valuation process and its outcome? The following article attempts to answer this question.

Peter Mitchell

valuation
en
Who is a purchaser in Canada and why does it matter for customs valuation?
17-09-2023

Can a small difference between Canadian customs legislation and the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement really affect the customs valuation process and its outcome? The following article attempts to answer this question.

Peter Mitchell

valuation
en, lt
Customs valuation – the particularities of different countries
06-08-2023

Customs valuation is one of the most problematic areas of customs, whatever the country or territory. Experts from different continents - from North and South America to Europe and Asia - confirmed this at the 16th Authors' Meeting. The following is a summary of the main conclusions of this event. The topics covered: discounts, advertising costs, “fair prices” vs transaction value, the arm’s length principle when moving stock between branches, sourcing goods from non-market economies, advance valuation rulings, etc.

valuation
en, lt
Customs valuation – the particularities of different countries
06-08-2023

Customs valuation is one of the most problematic areas of customs, whatever the country or territory. Experts from different continents - from North and South America to Europe and Asia - confirmed this at the 16th Authors' Meeting. The following is a summary of the main conclusions of this event. The topics covered: discounts, advertising costs, “fair prices” vs transaction value, the arm’s length principle when moving stock between branches, sourcing goods from non-market economies, advance valuation rulings, etc.

valuation
Forgot password?

* Mandatory fields

By signing up you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Password reset

Check your e-mail, we sent you a link to reset your password.


Login with Google Login with LinkedIn

Contact us

Thank you for report
Maximum file size 6mb
File is too large