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Your power to winCustoms consultations
In Ukraine, supplying goods to other countries or, conversely, importing goods from abroad is a rather complicated process. Effective customs consultations are of great importance for preserving the competitive advantages of a company engaged in foreign economic activity. Exporters trying to win a share of a sales market abroad, as well as importers, often face problems when their goods cross the customs border of Ukraine. Anyone who has dealt with customs clearance even once knows how demanding this procedure is: a chain of complex, interrelated steps that require knowing and applying in practice not only customs law but other areas of legislation as well.
The legal difficulties businesses face in the customs field are diverse, ranging from customs officers’ demands for additional documents not provided for by law and delays in completing customs clearance, to unjustified inflation of the customs value of goods and groundless assignment of a different code to the goods. A business may try to resolve all these contentious issues on its own, but without the necessary knowledge of customs legislation and practical experience in applying it correctly, participants in foreign economic activity cannot make the right decisions on customs matters. The most sensible step in such a case is therefore to engage attorneys specialising in customs law to obtain qualified advice.
Our experts are able to develop an individual algorithm for solving various customs problems and pass the necessary information on to the company’s in-house staff who deal with customs. Customs consultations from WinnerLex attorneys will provide you, within a short time, with a qualified and thorough written answer to any customs question you may have.
written advice on the customs clearance of goods;
advice in cases of non-declaration of property;
advice on the return of confiscated property;
advice on the refund of customs and other payments paid to the budget by mistake or in excess, the collection of which is controlled by customs authorities;
preliminary advice to legal entities on moving goods across the customs border of Ukraine under the export, import, temporary admission and transit regimes;
describing key customs risks and giving recommendations on compliance with customs legislation and on eliminating or reducing the customs risks identified;
legal review of foreign trade supply contracts and shipping documents in connection with the customs clearance of goods;
drafting replies to the customs authority’s consultations, requests, applications and other legal documents while customs conducts consultations on customs matters.
When customs conducts a consultation on the practical application of specific provisions of customs legislation, submit the full set of documents the participant in foreign economic activity has on the question put to customs. This will later make it possible to refute groundless arguments set out in the customs authority’s consultation. Moreover, the objections and shortcomings the customs authority raises during a consultation are often very formal and do not always comply with customs legislation. The declarant should therefore give a detailed and comprehensive reply to the consultation, supported by additional documents.
Goods (other than goods for sale or for use for purposes not directly related to business activity) imported into the customs territory of Ukraine for a period of at least three years by foreign investors under the Law of Ukraine “On the Foreign Investment Regime” for investment under registered agreements (contracts) or as a foreign investor’s contribution to the authorised capital of an enterprise with foreign investment are exempt from import duty. If such goods are disposed of earlier than three years after being entered on the balance sheet, import duty is paid on general terms.
Customs payments are not paid if, under the Customs Code of Ukraine, the Tax Code of Ukraine and international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:
- the goods are not subject to customs payments;
- the goods have been granted an exemption or full conditional exemption from customs payments, for the period of that exemption and provided the conditions on which it was granted are met;
- on import into or export from the customs territory of Ukraine, the goods were placed under a customs regime that under this Code does not provide for customs payments, for the period of that regime and provided the conditions arising from it are met;
- the total invoice value of goods imported into or exported from the customs territory of Ukraine by citizens does not exceed the amounts that are not subject to customs payments under the Customs Code of Ukraine.
Customs payments are calculated by the declarant or other persons obliged to pay them on their own, except where the Customs Code of Ukraine or the Tax Code of Ukraine assigns the duty to calculate customs payments to the revenue and duties authorities. Customs payments are calculated in the currency of Ukraine.
Goods with a total invoice value not exceeding the equivalent of EUR 10,000, except in the cases specified in the Customs Code of Ukraine, are not subject to written declaration when exported (sent) by citizens outside the customs territory of Ukraine.
Under Article 21 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, consultations on the practical application of specific provisions of the customs legislation of Ukraine are given by the customs office at the location of the enterprise (at the place of residence of citizens), orally, in writing or, at the request of the interested person, electronically, within no more than 30 calendar days following the day the request is received. A consultation on the practical application of specific provisions of the legislation of Ukraine on customs matters is individual and may be used only by the person to whom it was given.
A person who acted in accordance with a consultation on the practical application of specific provisions of the legislation of Ukraine on customs matters given in writing or electronically, or in accordance with a general consultation, cannot be held liable, in particular on the ground that such consultations were later changed or revoked.
A consultation on the practical application of specific provisions of the legislation of Ukraine on customs matters may be appealed to a higher-level authority in the manner set by the Customs Code of Ukraine, or to a court as an individual legal act, if in the interested person’s opinion it contradicts the provisions of the relevant legislative act. A court ruling that such a consultation is invalid is the ground for giving a new consultation that takes the court’s findings into account.