Who will do at the post office in July: the search for new employees and the declaration of packages instead of tens – 40 thousand per day?

Last year, throughout the year, the Lithuanian Post submitted fewer declarations to customs than this year it receives small packages from China or other third countries in one day; all of them must be declared as of July 1.

0.1 percent – The same 99.9 percent of all inbound shipments from China and other third countries must be declared at this time. It will be mandatory to declare as of July 1, the Lithuanian Post has calculated.

“Lithuanian Post delivers around 10 million shipments from third countries. The vast majority of these shipments are worth up to € 22. During 2020 37,000 declarations were presented at customs, that is, only 0.37%. Of the total amount. Afterwards of this meter. July 1, all shipments from third countries must be declared and taxed. It is expected that in 2021. up to 5 million declarations can be filed in 2022 and up to 10 million ”, says Norbertas Žioba, director of marketing and sales of Lietuvos paštas.

It shows that 40,000 packages from third countries arrive by post every day, and now around 0.1% have to be declared, which would be around 40 packages.

“And as of July 1. all will be declared and taxed ”, calculates N. Žioba.

Recognize that shipments will become more expensive, you will travel longer

Lithuanian Post assures that the preparations for the next changes are intense.

“We tailor processes so that the resulting additional steps are as seamless as possible and we can deliver shipments to recipients as quickly as possible. We will also accept around 150 employees who will carry out any additional procedures that may arise. However, it is important to emphasize that the fluidity of the declaration process will depend on many factors: the speed and clarity with which the recipient will provide the information required for the declaration, the proper functioning of customs is especially important ”, says N. Žioba .

By comparison, Lithuanian Post currently employs 4,150 people, the increase in new positions would be 3.6 percent.

In any case, residents should be aware that due to the resulting customs clearance procedures, packages will not only become more expensive, but will also travel longer, the postal representative admits.

Delfi recalls that as of July 1. Throughout the EU, new rules on shipments from third countries will come into force and value added tax (VAT) will be applied to all shipments entering the EU, including low-value items (up to € 22), which currently they are eligible for import relief. If the merchandise is not declared at the time of purchase, it must be declared through Lietuvos paštas or independently.

Lietuvos Paštas reduced the applicable brokerage fee from EUR 8.69 to EUR 3. As a result, some shipments valued between € 22 and € 150 could even become cheaper from July 1. If you did not want to use postal services, you would still have to pay EUR 2, which would be subject to an administrative fee.

Will I have to pay if a shipment arriving in June gets stuck?

Residents are already complaining that packages are stuck in the post office logistics center; they are concerned that they will be charged more after July.

“I am a Lithuanian citizen and I would like to draw attention to the violation of citizens’ rights in order to obtain benefits at their expense on the occasion of the entry into force of the new import rules in the EU. The point is that In my opinion, shipments from China are artificially stopped at the customs or customs warehouse of the Lithuanian Post. Both customs and post workers are aware that most Chinese carriers specify a maximum time of delivery of 60 days or even longer, and if a shipment arrives earlier, there is a good chance of keeping it in a customs warehouse until July 1, when the new rules take effect and benefit from VAT and customs brokerage fees .

This is already the case with 6 of my shipments, which remain in the customs warehouse for a week or two and even longer, although after responding to the senders and verifying the shipment tracking data, the answer is unequivocal: the shipment is in the customs warehouse. . Of course, Lietuvos paštas shows on the search site that the parcel number entered does not exist, that is, it does not exist ”, says one of the Delfi readers.

However, Lietuvos Paštas ensures that if the package is registered in Lithuania in June, it will not be necessary to pay VAT or additional taxes.

“Shipments from the airport travel directly to the Lithuanian post logistics center; here they are scanned and only then do additional processing processes take place: distribution, customs clearance, etc. Therefore, all low-value items (up to 22 euros) that arrive at the Lithuanian post before July 1, even after arriving on June 30, will be scanned and will not need to be declared ”, assures the representative of the Lithuanian Post N. Žioba.

However, if the shipment arrives in Lithuania on July 1 or later, you will have to pay VAT and additional taxes.

The Customs Department also claims that the resident’s assessment is incorrect, but the answer is different from that of the post office: if customs accept the goods import declaration before June 24 at 24:00, then no Import VAT will be required. .

“We remind you that Lithuanian customs does not stop shipments without risk or other factors necessary for customs formalities. We believe that interruptions in the logistics chain of Lithuanian postal shipments occur only for objective reasons and in a specific situation. (…) Currently, shipments are declared regularly at the Postal Customs post and there are no disturbances. Generally, for customs shipments unloaded by residents and sent to customs by Lithuanian Post, customs formalities are completed within 1-2 days, ”states the Customs Department comment.

Residents are often outraged that they cannot claim the responsibility of the Lithuanian Post for not receiving a postal item. But this is a global practice.

“The principles of payment for services and all other rules related to postal activities, such as compensation, return of goods, are provided for in the Postal Law, as well as in the regulations of the Universal Postal Union”, explains the representative of the company .

If the sender specifies a lower value, the recipient is responsible

Currently, the value of most shipments from China is indicated by a small poster, often less than 22 euros, of which the shipment must be declared. In this way, Chinese merchants often avoid VAT or mandatory customs duties. However, if such a violation is established, the recipient will be liable if the purchase price is not declared correctly, warns Lietuvos Paštas.

“Lithuanian Post will accept the information confirmed by the recipient and send it to customs. As stated in the customs information, some shipments will be randomly inspected by customs officials or through a risk assessment system. It is important to emphasize that the recipient is responsible for the veracity of the data provided for the declaration. A fine can be imposed for the presentation of incorrect data in declarations (foreseen in articles 211-212 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) ”, says the representative of Lietuvos paštas.

The penalties provided for in these articles range from a warning or a fine of € 30 to fines of several thousand euros, depending on the severity of the offense.

What taxes can be refunded if the item is returned?

If the purchase from third parties did not meet expectations, is defective or would have to be reimbursed for other reasons, part of the taxes paid will no longer be recoverable.

“If the package has been collected and it is desired to return it, unfortunately it will not be possible to recover the Lietuvos paštas fees, be it a brokerage or parcel administration fee. Because the service will already be available ”, says N. Žioba.

However, import duties can be recovered, for which the customs foresees the following process: it will be necessary to complete the export declaration and send the goods to the seller via Lithuanian post or express carrier. Once the merchandise has been dispatched, it will be necessary to submit a request to the territorial customs office of the recipient’s area of ​​activity for the refund of the import duties paid.

The request to the territorial customs must clearly indicate the reasons for the return of the goods, indicating the number of the shipment in which the goods were imported to Lithuania (and / or the number of the customs invoice to the recipient, number of the declaration of import customs office (MRN)) and the number of the shipment returned to the sender.

The request will be accompanied by an invoice issued to the sender, copies of the correspondence with the sender regarding the defect identified in the merchandise, etc.