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Import and Export Manual for low value shipments

1.3.1. Intrinsic value

The new VAT rules in electronic commerce have incorporated special regimes for the calculation of VAT on the import of goods in shipments that do not exceed 150 EUR . The concept applied is in line with the threshold for exemption from customs duties for shipments of no estimable value under the Regulation on exemptions from customs duties (Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, hereinafter ‘FRG’). In addition, from July 2021, Member States will be required to integrate a validation mechanism into the declaration handling system (National Import Systems) to check whether the customs declaration for release for free circulation of certain low-value consignments (dataset H7 of Annex B of AD CAU ) has been legitimately applied.

In view of all the above, customs legislation introduced a legally binding definition of this term, which safeguards its harmonized application throughout the EU and builds on the approach that has been applied regarding to the threshold of exemption from customs duties. This definition refers to the application of the threshold of EUR 150 for both customs and VAT purposes, regardless of the VAT regime used.

Article 1, point 48 of the AD CAU establishes that " intrinsic value " means the following:

  1. For commercial goods: the price of the goods themselves when sold for export to the customs territory of the Union, excluding the cost of transport and insurance, unless they have been included in the price and not indicated separately on the invoice, and any other taxes and charges which the customs authorities may determine from any relevant document;
  2. For goods not of a commercial nature: "the price that would have been paid for the goods themselves if they had been sold for export to the customs territory of the Union."

In the section dedicated to ED 14 14 000 000 of Chapter 2, Section 2.2.1, contains examples of the calculation of intrinsic value.

The term "any other taxes and levies" means any tax or levy levied on the value of the goods or in addition to a tax or levy imposed on such goods.

As regards goods without a commercial character, the definition must be understood in the same way as that of those with a commercial character, that is, the value of the goods themselves, excluding any other cost, tax or charge mentioned in article 1, point 48, letter a), of the AD CAU.