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Customs valuation of goods imported into Ukraine is one of the most challenging stages of cross-border trade operations. It is relatively easy to determine the customs value of goods; however, … it is almost impossible to convince the customs that the value is accurate and based on the actual price. Hence, there are many court appeals against customs decisions to adjust the customs value. The statistics of court proceedings on such cases are not in favour of customs. Thus, in cases involving Ukrainian customs, 80% (2330 out of 2917 considered over 11 months of 2020) of court decisions were made in favour of plaintiffs (importers, declarants, etc.).

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) examined a case regarding the determination of the customs value of imported goods (technical sulfuric acid). The question was raised whether … customs authorities were entitled to add transport costs to the transaction price if, under the Incoterms DAF terms agreed between the parties, the transport costs were already included in the transaction price but actually exceeded it.

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In the EU, the “simplification for the determination of amounts being part of the Customs value of the goods” under the transaction value method allows operators to avoid the burden of a two-step … declaration – i.e. a simplified declaration followed by a supplementary declaration – and to finalise Customs valuation declarations without delay in situations where there is no risk for the collection of import duties. Such simplifications are becoming increasingly relevant given the growing number of value elements, such as royalties or commissions, that cannot be quantified at the time of importation.

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) took another decision regarding customs valuation and adjustment of transaction value. In this decision CJEU analysed legal importance of compensation … paid for the right to exclusively distribute goods. CJEU concluded that such compensation was the condition of sale and thus must be reflected in the customs value of goods. The fact that compensation was agreed on in a separate contract (not in a sale-purchase agreement) and that it was limited in time did not change conclusions of the CJEU. It is yet another signal for the importers to carefully examine all the payments between them and the seller and evaluate their possible influence on customs value of imported goods.

On 25 September 2020, the European Commission has published a new version of the Guidance on Customs Valuation. Although this document is not legally binding, it is considered an important tool … for the interpretation of the EU customs legislation. The guidance aims to ensure a common understanding between customs and economic operators and to provide a tool to facilitate the correct and harmonized application of customs legislation in the Member States. The guidance is expected to be included in the EU Customs Valuation Compendium in 2021.

Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) remained with its position that the economic value of software should be added to the transaction value of imported goods, despite the fact that it was … designed in the European Union and transferred to the third-country manufacturer free of charge.

Adam Smith, author of “The Wealth of Nations”, wrote that Customs duties have been “in use for time immemorial”. To a large extent, this assertion is correct. The practice of taxing commerce … is as old as commerce itself. And where a tax must be collected, there will be disputes over rates and methods.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA). The Agreement seeks to tackle Customs clearance delays resulting from valuation verification … and to ensure that the Customs value of goods entering a market are properly assessed to reflect the actual price of the goods as agreed between the buyer and seller.

A significant amount of work has been done over the last 15 years on “convergence” of income tax transfer pricing (TP) and Customs valuation. Both income tax and Customs rules seek the same result, … ensuring that prices between related parties are “at arm’s length,” set as if the parties were unrelated. But the rules are different. Income tax TP rules in the majority of countries are based on guidelines established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD. Customs valuation principles are established in the WTO Valuation Agreement (Agreement). Moreover, the revenue collection focal points of tax and Customs administrations are different: a high transfer price generally results in a high duty, but low income tax; a low transfer price results in lower duties and higher income taxes.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the WCO have a history of long and close co-operation in the area of Customs valuation. As the institutional representative of more than 45 million … businesses in over 100 countries, ICC has been participating as an Observer in the meetings of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation since 1979. In that time, the ICC Observer delegation has had the opportunity to explain specific aspects of commercial practice in terms of their influence on Customs valuation, as well as to engage with Customs representatives on specific technical issues. In this article, ICC highlights some of the challenges and questions arising from implementation of valuation rules, highlighting the important work of the Technical Committee.

Advance rulings relating to the determination of tariff classification and origin of goods are already established in several countries, but few have implemented such a system in the field of … Customs valuation. Such rulings do not determine or confirm the actual Customs value of a particular consignment but indicate the treatment to apply to certain elements of the Customs value. In this article, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) explains the processes and procedures relating to this powerful trade facilitation tool which benefits both the administration and trade operators.

Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teismas (ESTT) tikslina savo išaiškinimus dėl licencinių mokesčių ir autorinių atlyginimų įtraukimo į importuojamų prekių muitinę vertę. Prieš kelis metus šio teismo … priimtas sprendimas GE Healthcare (C-173/15) byloje sukėlė daugiau klausimų, nei pateikė atsakymų – atrodė, kad bet kokia net menka licencinių mokesčių sąsaja su importuotomis prekėmis turi būti išskaičiuota ir pridėta prie prekių vertės skaičiuojant importo mokesčius. Šį kartą teismas kiek susiaurino ir sukonkretino savo išaiškinimus: nurodė „pakankamai glaudaus ryšio“ kriterijus bei licencinių mokesčių, kaip būtinosios pardavimo sąlygos, požymius. Tokie išaiškinimai leis importuotojams aiškiau vykdyti savo prievoles ir numatyti licencinių mokesčių taikymo pasekmes.

The goal of the EU law on customs valuation is to introduce a fair, uniform, and neutral system excluding the use of arbitrary or fictitious customs values. The customs value must therefore reflect … the real economic value of an imported product and take into account all of the elements of that product that have economic value. In this article we are going to review how the Bulgarian courts apply the provisions related to customs valuation, more specifically, to the inclusion of royalties in the customs value of the goods.

Nors pastarąjį dešimtmetį (ypač nuo 2012 m.) prekybos tarp Lietuvos Respublikos (kaip ES valstybės narės) ir JAV apimtys (tiek eksportas, tiek importas) nuolat augo, išliko ir nemažai probleminių … klausimų, su kuriais susiduria šioje prekyboje dalyvaujantys verslo subjektai. Straipsnyje apžvelgiama tiek bendrosios tokios prekybos problemos, su kuriomis susiduriama priimant sprendimus visos ES lygmeniu, tiek ir problemos, kylančios importuojant prekes iš JAV būtent į Lietuvos Respubliką bei išleidžiant jas į apyvartą Lietuvoje, taip pat siūlomi sprendimo būdai.