Main customs risks of export-import operations in 2023 for foreign trade participants
At the webinar, Andrey Grachev and Anton Borisichev will discuss the current trends in court practice related to the adjustment of the customs value of goods as well as the main customs risks that companies engaged in foreign economic activities may face.
Program
After the active restructuring of supply chains and business structures, as well as the changes made to established foreign trade contracts during 2022 and the first half of 2023, a significant increase in customs control over companies participating in foreign trade activities has been observed.
Such activity can be attributed to the mounting fiscal interest of the customs authorities resulting from the decline in the total volume of import and export operations and, consequently, the total amount of customs payments.
It should also be taken into account that arbitration courts have for a long time supported participants of foreign economic activity and prevented the amounts of license fees and dividends paid especially early from being included into the customs value of goods by the customs authorities. However, following the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and recent court decisions in the cases of Bershka, Pull & Bear and Chanel, the key approaches to determining the relationship between the dividends paid and imported goods have actually been revised. An additional risk factor for participants in foreign trade is the increased practice of customs authorities revising their established positions on the classifications of goods within the HS or changing the qualification of goods for customs purposes.
During our webinar, we will discuss:
- Trends concerning disputes on the requalification and reclassification of HS codes
- Inclusion of license fees in the customs value of goods: trends of court practice with regard to intra-group, distribution and production royalties
- Reasons for the customs authorities’ increased attention in terms of including dividends in the customs value, the history of the issue and trends of further development
- In what cases is the payment of dividends considered as "toxic" from the customs point of view?
- Are there economic and legal restrictions in determining the relationship of dividends and license fees with imported goods?
- Customs Risk Checklist for 2023