Until 01.07.2021. shipments of low value, i.e. value less than 22 Euros, were exempted from paying VAT.
From July 1, all commercial shipments arriving in Croatia, Slovenia or any other EU country that were sent outside the European Union will be taxed with value added tax, regardless of their value.
Small value shipments ordered online from China, Great Britain or the USA, i.e. from countries outside the EU, will have to pay VAT.
Value added tax in Croatia will be calculated at 25% and in Slovenia at 22%, regardless of whether the shipment was ordered before or after July 1 of this year.
All commercial shipments that after 01.07.2021. arriving from countries that are not part of the common European market will be more expensive for the end customer.
VAT will now have to be paid on them as well as an additional charge to the post office if it delivers the package to you.
The European Union has activated IOSS (Import One Stop Shop), through which a special taxation procedure is carried out.
Value added tax on low-value shipments is introduced to comply with Council Directive 2017/2455 of the European Union.
Sellers who join this system (Aliexpress has already done this) will immediately add the amount of VAT to the customers, along with the order price, so delivery and customs clearance will be simplified.
Everyone who has made purchases through eBay, AliExpress, Banggood and similar shops with the conditions and delivery costs will have to check whether VAT is included in the price.
When picking up a package, only an additional fee will be charged to the Post Office or the courier service, and the recipient will not have to present the invoice and go through the customs clearance and taxation procedure.
Prices of products with calculated value added tax that consumers will pay depend on the member state in which the consumer lives.
Croatia has a VAT rate of 25%. Sweden and Denmark have the same rate. Only Hungary has a higher rate, 27%. Slovenia and Italy have a rate of 22%, and Austria of 20%.
In Germany, the value added tax rate is 19%.
The lowest value added rate will be paid by consumers from Luxembourg, 17%.
The bad news is that if a low-value shipment has already been ordered and arrives after July 1st, VAT will have to be paid on it.
In accordance with the new European rules on taxation of all shipments from third countries, from July 1st the large Chinese retailer Aliexpress has joined IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) and charges VAT immediately upon purchase.
AliExpress says that from now on it will charge VAT on all deliveries of goods to customers in the EU, including in cases where they are cheaper of 150 euros, and even when they are sent from warehouses located within the EU, and if the seller of the goods has a business headquarters outside the EU.
All sellers on this platform will have to state their IOSS number on the import declaration according to the EU, based on which the local post office will know that they can deliver the package to the customer without charging VAT and customs.
As reported by the Bug portal, in view of the fact that all shipments arriving from third countries will have to undergo a control inspection, Croatian Post has introduced new processes for the processing, collection and delivery of shipments.
Accordingly, a new fee is being introduced for this inspection, so, in addition to 25% VAT, an additional fixed amount will be charged for each package that arrives in Croatia by post.
Inspection of shipments from third countries containing goods worth up to 150 euros costs 18.50 kuna, and for goods worth 150 to 1,000 euros 37.00 kuna.
HP will charge for the aforementioned services regardless of VAT. for the goods in shipments paid in third countries or not, whether it was paid through the IOSS system or not, since HP is obliged, under the supervision of the Customs Administration of the Republic of Croatia, to prepare a security (ENS) and customs declaration for each shipment containing goods from third countries.
The only exception remains postal items sent by a natural person to a natural person in the HRK equivalent of up to 45 euros, unless it is alcohol, tobacco and perfumes.
Also, the current procedure will continue to apply to postal items in which finds goods worth more than 150 euros - for which the buyer will have to pay the amount of customs, postage and VAT in accordance with current regulations.
Source: bug.hr
