Companies that bring merchandise in large quantities for sale in the country are being charged with the corresponding tax and tariff payments. Shipments of personal cargo through the courier service operate normally
Venezuelan port and tax authorities began this week to enforce the rules on maritime cargo shipments. The companies that were dedicated to bringing merchandise into the country in large quantities using the door-to-door mechanism or courierwere notified of the procedures that must be carried out to comply with the payments of taxes and duties.
Sources from the cargo service sector indicated that door-to-door shipments made by natural persons operate normally. However, they note that officials of the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service (Seniat) are thoroughly reviewing the loads, to verify that they are canceling the corresponding taxes.
«The most affected so far with the Government’s provisions are commercial merchandise. Companies that bring in goods in bulk to resell are being ripped off, they can no longer pass their products on as door-to-door shipments,” said a representative of a logistics and cargo company who preferred not to be named.
«We continue to operate normally, but it is that 95% of our clients who use the service of courier They are natural persons,” added the source consulted.
At the beginning of July, the administration of Nicolás Maduro informed the service companies courier that new regulations would be adopted in the Venezuelan customs, for the entry of containers of commercial merchandise door to door. This was due to the excessive use of this mechanism to import products for sale, which according to consultants and representatives of the sector represent between 25% and 30% of imports.
These door-to-door shipments have increased significantly in recent years due to the ease of sending certain merchandise to Venezuela, and that these are delivered to the door of the residence, company or warehouse of a natural person. This mechanism also contributed to the increase in the number of still lifes and with product sales through “startups” promoted on social media like Instagram.
In this sense, the commercial sector expressed its concern in the various meetings that business associations have held with representatives of government agencies. They requested to execute some type of action due to the important entrance of merchandise through the door to door to evade taxes, which put the formal trade at a total disadvantage.
The Resolution Regulating International Courier Messaging Services dates from 1997 and establishes the goods received from abroad through service companies courier They are treated as imports. The Customs Law and the Resolution itself indicate that this service allows the entry of imported goods into the country, whose value does not exceed 2 thousand dollars per “Guide Courier”, consigned under the “door-to-door” modality, to a service company courierto be delivered to third parties.
Now companies that bring commercial merchandise must pay the tariff rate, the rate for determination of the customs regime, the Value Added Tax (VAT) and other customs obligations.
Although the regulations state that shipments of courier must be done by air The authorities have not yet prohibited cargo arriving by sea. It is not clear if all the companies that are dedicated to this service have already completely restarted their shipments.
* Also read: Delcy Rodríguez denied that “door-to-door” services are paralyzed
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