How much must be paid in taxes for the merchandise sent door to door or courier?

Courier service companies informed their clients that they will begin to charge between 35% and 38% more for cargo sent to Venezuela. However, the Ministry of Finance has not yet published new provisions or taxes for imports of this type.

With the intention of increasing tax collection and thus increasing the government’s petty cash, Seniat opted to order imports through the “door-to-door” modality and through service companies courier. To date, no new customs regulations have been issued for this type of operation, but the authorities are taking action to enforce current regulations.

Maritime operators, union and customs representatives, as well as economic analysts and tax experts have affirmed that “door-to-door” shipments had fairly flexible conditions that allowed a large part of commercial imports to comply with a minimum tax burden. While the government authorities chose to turn a “blind eye” or “look the other way” in order to end the severe shortage of goods that the country experienced years ago.

Between 2015 and 2016, the Government began to gradually allow the import of various basic products and exempted them from paying taxes and tariffs (Official Gazette Number 40,734). Then, in 2018 they made a much broader exoneration (Extraordinary Official Gazette 6,393). From this moment the number of bodegones in the country began to open and grow with the sale of imported products and in many cases at a lower price than in other shops.

Now, in 2023, the customs authorities and the national Treasury plan to take advantage of this large import that to date generated little revenue, reminding companies that when the import is through the sea It must be done by ordinary means and pay all the corresponding taxes and customs duties.

Various service companies courier They have already informed their clients that they will begin to charge between 35% and 38% more for the cargo that is sent to Venezuela. However, the Ministry of Finance has not published new provisions in the Official Gazette.

Here is what the regulations establish on this subject:

-According to the Resolution Regulating International Courier Messaging Services dating from 1997, if a person buys a product abroad at a cost that does not exceed $100, then the shipping company courier that brings your cargo or package to Venezuela, is not required to declare it in customs and the client only pays the cost of shipping or freight.

-If the product is over 100 dollars, but it is less than $2,000, the company courier it is obliged to nationalize that merchandise and pay taxes according to the type of product, but it does so in the name of the client. That is, the company makes the declaration for the person, but the person must pay the amount corresponding to the cubic meters of the freight.

-If the value of the merchandise or product exceeds 2,000 dollars, the owner of the merchandise is obliged to make the customs declaration in the ordinary way. In other words, you must register in the Sidunea automated customs system and carry out other procedures depending on the type of product, such as sanitary permits and Sencamer (Covenin Standards).

-According to the Resolution above mentioned, the Organic Customs Law and the Customs Tariff all door-to-door shipments must be made by air or land. However, many of these operations have been carried out by sea and for several years.

-To dispose of the merchandise, the service company courier The person who receives the goods in Venezuela must submit them to the order of the customs authority to verify the weight, quantity and correspondence of the declaration data with the imported goods.

-According to what was commented by customs companies, Government authorities will continue to allow door-to-door shipments to be made by ocean freight. But that those imports by sea pay their respective taxes and tariffs; and if the merchandise exceeds 2,000 dollars, do it as ordinary importation. In this case, a customs broker should be hired to help you obtain all the required documentation.

-If a shipment is verified with undeclared merchandise, you will be in the presence of a customs offense or of incurring in a smuggling crime typified in the Law on Smuggling Crime, for including undeclared merchandise in containers, consolidated cargo or courier shipments.

-Various service companies courier reported that maritime cargo classified as commercial shipments (more than six pieces of the same item) will be subject to a customs duty depending on the type of merchandise + 16% VAT (Value Added Tax) + 1% customs service.

-And they will charge between 35% and 38% for every box shipped by ocean freight regardless of size or for every $100 declared, but also an additional $7 for every cubic foot. That is, $38 for every $100 declared.

Regarding the “NEW TAXES” in “Door to Door” operations.

No matter how many times private companies announce it, as long as the “GACETA” does NOT exist, those taxes DO NOT exist. pic.twitter.com/HkFnlDJvbZ

— Hector Orochena (@ServiTributos) July 18, 2023