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Method for the transaction price of imported goods - method 1

Part 1 of Article 19 of the Law defines that the customs value of goods imported into the customs territory of the Russian Federation isthe transaction price actually paid or payable for importedproduct at the time of crossing the customs border of the Russian Federation.

In this case, we are talking about the sale of goods (payment for imported goods), providing for its transfer from the country of export to the country of import, that is, a foreign trade sale transaction that requires a seller willing to transfer ownership of goods imported into the Russian Federation for a certain amount, and a buyer willing to receive these goods in property for this amount. Thus, one of the main criteria (a prerequisite) for the application of method 1 is the fact of the transfer of ownership of goods imported into the Russian Federation.

If the goods are imported due to the execution of transactions that do not provide for the transfer of ownership rights to it from the foreign owner of the goods to its Russian recipient, method 1 cannot be applied to determine the customs value of such goods.

Such situations include, in particular, the following:

  • imported goods are not subject to sale;
  • import of gifts, samples, and promotional items delivered free of charge;
  • goods imported on consignment for sale, which will be sold after their import at the expense of the supplier;
  • goods imported by subsidiaries, branches, representative offices, structural divisions that are not independent subjects of economic (entrepreneurial) activity;
  • goods imported for rental, rental or for hire.

 Term"price paid"it means that if the goods are fully paid before their customs assessment, that is, before the date of acceptance of the declaration for customs clearance, then this value should be taken as the basis for the assessment. If by the time of the customs valuation the payment for the assessed goods has not yet been made, then the initial basis for determining the customs value will be appliedthe price to be paid.The price actually paid or payable means the sum of all payments for the buyer's goods to the seller or to a third party, but in favor of the seller, that is, all direct and indirect payments.

The legislative documents on the customs value do not specify in what form the payment for the imported goods should be made. Payments can be made in any form permitted by the legislation of the Russian Federation. These can be settlements by bank transfers, the use of letters of credit, promissory notes and other forms of settlements. When calculating the participants of the transaction, so-called "indirect payments" to third parties may occur in favor of the seller of imported goods. Such payments include payment by the buyer of the seller's debts to a third party.

In accordance with the Russian customs legislation, all calculations on customs payments are carried outon the date of acceptance of the customs declaration for registration(unless otherwise provided), which is indicated in column 7 of the GTD. It is on this date, when determining the customs value, that the foreign currency in which the transaction was settled is converted into the currency of the Russian Federation.

The correct definition of the "place of import" of the goods into the customs territory of the Russian Federation is very important for an accurate customs assessment of the goods, since the Law establishes that the transaction price includes the costs of delivering the goods to the airport, port or other place of import into the territory of the Russian Federation (if these costs are not included in the transaction price).

 For the purposes of determining the customs value underplace of importationunderstood:

  1. for air transportation – the destination airport or the first airport on the territory of the Russian Federation in which the aircraft carrying goods lands and where the goods are unloaded;
  2. for sea and river transportation – the first port of unloading or port of transshipment on the territory of Russia, if the fact of transshipment of goods is confirmed by the customs authority of this port;
  3. for transportation by other modes of transport – the location of the checkpoint at the customs border of the Russian Federation on the route of the goods;
  4. for goods delivered by mail, there is an international postal exchange point.

 Part 1 of Article 19 of the Law also establishes that certain components are included in the transaction price (the basis for calculating the customs value according to method 1). It should be noted that the components defined by Law are subject to inclusion in the customs value of imported goods only if they were not previously included in it. In practice, such additional charges to the transaction price are reflected in section "B" of the declaration of the DTS-1 form in the form of an appropriate additional charge.

At the same time, no other components may be added to the price actually paid or payable when determining the customs value, with the exception of those listed by Law. In addition, such additional charges must be documented, that is, added to the transaction price on the basis of objective and quantifiable data. Otherwisecustoms valuecannot be determined by method 1.


Let's take a closer look at the content of each of the types of additional charges established by Law.

 Delivery costs of goodsconsist of:

  • transportation costs;
  • the costs of loading, unloading, reloading and transshipment of goods;
  • insurance costs.

 As already noted,transportation costsare subject to inclusion in the customs value of the goods if the terms of delivery are used, according to which the obligations for transportation to the place of importation in the Russian Federation (in whole or in part) are attributed to the buyer, for example,EXW, FOB-the port of the country of export or a third country (DAF-Chinese-Russian border, etc.).

Please note that in case of delivery of the goods in accordance with the terms of delivery EXW,FAS("Incoterms-90") it is the buyer's responsibility to perform customs formalities at his own expense in the country of export, that is, in addition to the actual transportation costs, in such a case it is necessary to include the buyer's expenses incurred in connection with the customs clearance of the goods in the country of export.

If transportation is carried out by different modes of transport, then the costs for each type of vehicle are taken into account. Transportation costs must also include freight surcharges, the costs of processing shipping documents, the costs of maintaining the appropriate temperature, humidity, and ventilation during the transportation of goods (that is, the costs necessary to ensure their safety).

As a documentary confirmation of the transport costs to be included in the transaction price, the customs authority must be provided with a contract for transportation, invoices and bank documents confirming the fact of their payment (if they are paid at the time of customs clearance).

If the goods are delivered by the buyer's own transport or free of charge, then the customs value includes the amount of transportation costs calculated on the basis of tariffs applicable during the period of cargo transportation by the corresponding mode of transport of the largest shipping companies, or based on the buyer's accounting data (calculation of the cost of transporting goods signed by the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant).

If the delivery of the goods is carried out at the expense of the buyer, when the goods are reloaded en route from one vehicle to another, its unloading en route, etc., the costs must be included in the customs value. If the goods are in a warehouse (for example, when reloading in a third country from a ship to a car, the goods were stored in a warehouse for 3 days), the costs for its storage must also be included in the customs value.

Insurance costsfor the period of transportation of the goods are subject to inclusion in its customs value.

Commission and brokerage fees, with the exception of commissions for the purchase of goods.

 In the event that the parties to the transaction resort to the services of an intermediary (agent), it is necessary to determine whether to include the agent's remuneration in the customs value or not.

The law stipulates that the customs value includes expenses incurred by the seller in order to find a buyer, that is, commission costs of remuneration for the sale of goods. Usually such expenses are already in the seller's price, but if they are not included in this price, then they must be added on the basis of relevant agreements with intermediaries, invoices and payment documents. Commissions for the purchase of goods are not included in the customs value.

Buyer's expenses for containers, containers and packaging.The customs value should include the buyer's costs for packaging and packaging in the event that they were not previously included in the transaction price and if in accordance with the Customs CodeForeign economic activitythey are considered as a whole with the evaluated goods.

For example, if the product is delivered in a package that is one with the product (beer in glass bottles), then the product and packaging are classified in the same tariff item (one itemHS).

In this case, the packaging costs are included in the customs value of the assessed goods (beer). If the goods are delivered in a tank, which is a returnable container and is classified according to different HS items with the goods, the cost of such a container, if it is not included in the transaction price, should be taken into account under the item "Delivery (transportation) costs".

Goods and services provided by the buyer to the seller for free or at discounted prices.

This paragraph establishes a list of goods and services, the cost of which must be included in the customs value of the goods, it includes:

raw materials, materials, parts, semi-finished products and other components that are an integral part of the evaluated goods;

tools, stamps, molds and other similar items used in the production of the evaluated goods;

materials consumed in the production of the evaluated goods (lubricants, fuel, etc.);

engineering study, development work, design, decoration, sketches and drawings made outside the territory of the Russian Federation and directly necessary for the production of the evaluated goods.

 Usually these components should be included in the customs value when the estimated goods are imported due to the performance of the contract for their manufacture from the customer's material (as processed products), that is, when the customer (Russian buyer) directly or indirectly provided the foreign seller with free (at a reduced price) goods (services) in order to use them for production and/or sale for export in the Russian Federation of the assessed goods, including the provision of equipment by the buyer for rent to the seller. Such goods (services) can also be provided indirectly. For example, the buyer instructs his branch located in a third country to supply components to the seller for the production of purchased goods.

A prerequisite for inclusion in the customs value of the costs under this article is the requirement that the goods and services supplied by the buyer to the foreign seller are used by the latter in the production and sale of the goods being valued in the Russian Federation.

Let's illustrate this with the following example: a Russian fabric buyer in a third country purchases cotton, which is supplied free of charge to the fabric manufacturer. When selling fabric to a Russian buyer, the manufacturer will issue an invoice in which the amount will be presented for payment without taking into account the cost of raw materials (cotton), however, when determining the customs value of the fabric, the cost of cotton must be included in it.

As the cost of the additional components, the price at which the buyer purchased the corresponding product from a person unrelated to him is accepted.

License or other payments for the use of intellectual property objects.

As such, the remuneration paid by the buyer for the use of the rights to

  • manufacture of imported goods (including samples, "know-how");
  • sale onexportimported goods, including trademarks, trademarks;
  • the use or resale of imported goods (including patents, copyrights, production technologies, representing a single whole with imported goods).

License fees or other payments should be added to the transaction price only if they:

  1. relate to imported goods
  2. are the terms of the purchase and sale transaction concluded between the seller and the buyer

In order to become the owner of the imported goods, the buyer, in addition to the actual payment for the goods, must pay for the use of the copyright or make a license payment, it does not matter to whom this payment should be made.

Royalties for the right to reproduce goods on the territory of the Russian Federation are not included in the customs value.

 A part of the seller's direct or indirect income from any subsequent resale, transfer or use of the valued goods on the territory of the Russian Federation.

If the contract of sale provides that part of the profit that the buyer will receive will be returned to the seller (in any form), then the amount corresponding to this part of the profit must be included in the customs value of the imported goods.

If this part of the profit is unknown at the time of customs clearance, then before its establishment, the goods may be provided to the declarant for use under the security of customs payments due on the basis of a temporary (conditional) assessment, or the determination of the customs value of the goods should be carried out by subsequent methods (methods 2-6).


Next, we will consider cases when Method 1 cannot be used to determine the customs value (Part 2 of Article 19 of the Law).

1.A prerequisite for the application of method 1 isno restrictions on the buyer's rights to the evaluated product,with the exception of:

  • restrictions established by the legislation of the Russian Federation
  • restrictions on the geographical region in which goods can be resold
  • restrictions that do not significantly affect the price of the goods

In practice, there are transactions when the buyer is limited in his rights to use, own or dispose of the purchased goods, which, as a rule, affects the price of the goods, of course, not in the direction of its increase. For example, a prerequisite for the purchase and sale of equipment is that the buyer does not have the right to resell (lease) it to third parties without the appropriate permission of a foreign seller. In such cases, method 1 cannot be used.

The exception to this condition, as already noted, are the restrictions established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. For example, requirements for obtaining a special permit, for the use of imported goods, testing, etc.

The restrictions of the geographical region in which goods can be resold mean territorial restrictions on the sale of goods that are introduced by a foreign seller. For example, the seller has in Russia, conditionally divided into regions, its official representatives in each of these regions. A representative of a foreign company has the right to resell imported goods only in the territory designated by the foreign seller. Restrictions on the buyer's rights of this kind cannot be grounds for refusing to use method 1.

Under the restrictions that do not significantly affect the price of goods, it is possible to indicate the restrictions characteristic of the commercial practice of industries (maintaining secrecy in the electronic industry in order to prevent industrial espionage), individual goods (fruits, vegetables that are influenced by seasonal factors).

The determination of the degree of "significance" of the impact of restrictions on the buyer's rights to imported goods on the transaction price, and hence on the possibility of using method 1 for customs assessment, is considered individually by the customs authority in each case.

2. Method 1 cannot be applied ifthe sale and the transaction price depend on compliance with the conditions, the quantitative impact of which on the transaction price cannot be taken into account.

As examples of conditions of this kind , the following situations can be specified:

the price of imported goods depends on the provision of certain services by the buyer to the seller (a foreign seller sells goods worth 150 thousand US dollars to a Russian buyer, provided that the buyer undertakes to provide him with certain information services.

the seller sets the price for imported goods, provided that the buyer also buys other goods in certain quantities (a foreign seller sells televisions at a price of $ 300 per unit, provided that a Russian buyer buys 5,000 car radios at a price of $ 75 per unit).

 It should be noted that there are conditions that are generally accepted and apply to all participants in foreign economic activity, that is, those that do not affect the possibility of using method 1.

Such conditions include:

  • delivery terms according to "Incoterms" in the 1990 edition;
  • conditions for concluding transactions and making deliveries of the type "purchase subject to the connection of an expert (availability of an expert opinion)", etc.;
  • purchase subject to delivery of the goods before a specific date;
  • conditions such as discounts on the quantity of goods, on "loyalty" to this seller, etc.;
  • provision by the buyer to the seller of technical developments or drawings made in the buyer's country;
  • implementation by the buyer at his own expense (possibly even by agreement with the seller) of any actions related to the sale of imported goods by the buyer, for example, advertising activities paid by the buyer;
  • requirement for testing or testing of goods;
  • the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of information and the secrecy of certain information in relation to imported goods.

Method 1 is not applicable in cases where the data used by the declarant when declaring the customs value is not documented or is not quantified and reliable.

That is, the transaction price can be recognized by the customs authority, which means that the customs value can be determined by method 1 only if all its components are documented. The reliability requirements in this case mean that, firstly,customs authoritiesthey must be able to verify the documents submitted by the declarant (which means they must be available in Russia), secondly, the information contained in the documents submitted by the declarant should not contradict each other, otherwise method 1 cannot be used.

Method 1 cannot be applied also ifthe participants of the transaction are interdependent persons.

Interdependent persons are persons who satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

  • one of the participants in the transaction (an individual) or an official of one of the participants in the transaction is simultaneously an official of another participant in the transaction;
  • the participants of the transaction are co-owners of the enterprise;
  • the participants of the transaction are bound by labor relations;
  • one of the participants in the transaction is the owner of a deposit (share) or the owner of voting shares in the authorized capital of another participant in the transaction, amounting to at least 5% of the authorized capital;
  • both parties to the transaction are under the direct or indirect control of a third party;
  • the parties to the transaction jointly control, directly or indirectly, a third party;
  • one of the parties to the transaction is under the direct or indirect control of the other party to the transaction;
  • the participants of the transaction or their officials are relatives.

Information on the mutual dependence of the seller and the buyer, as well as on the presence or absence of the influence of this dependence on the transaction price, is indicated by the declarant.

However, this does not mean that in itself the existence of such interdependence between the parties to the transaction is automatically grounds for refusing to use method 1 for customs valuation. The law establishes that method 1 can be applied if the interdependence did not affect the transaction price.

Attention should be paid to the following: in accordance with the Law, the duty to provide the customs authority with reasonable evidence that the interdependence of the counterparties did not affect the transaction price falls on the declarant. The Customs authority determines the reliability and sufficiency of the submitted evidence. As a confirmation of this fact, documents must be submitted proving that this price level is typical for other transactions concluded between independent persons and corresponds to the price level of a free, competitive market. Otherwise, method 1 is not applicable.

Reasonable doubts that the price assigned to the dependent buyer is very low and, therefore, has been influenced by interdependence (even ifdeclarantattempts to prove the opposite), may occur, for example, in the following cases:

  • the level of prices set in the contract clearly indicates that the goods were not sold to an independent buyer;
  • as a result of the circumstances surrounding the transaction, it turned out that the price calculation does not comply with the accounting standards accepted in this industry;
  • the difference between this price and the price set for resale of the goods is too large;
  • there are prices for identical or homogeneous goods sold to an independent buyer that differ significantly from this price.