WinnerLex attorneys have protected client`s interests at return of currency values siezed by customs in the airport

Tourist and business trips are so long-awaited that sometimes the necessary arrangements and knowledge of legislative restrictions go by the wayside.

So, when passing customs control at the airport, our client mistakenly did not indicate that he had with him the amount of currency funds that significantly exceeded the allowed limit of 10,000 euros. As a result, customs control officers drafted a protocol on violation of customs rules and seized all funds in excess of the allowed limit.

The legal position of customs officers was based on the fact that the client, when passing customs control on an airplane at an international airport in Kyiv, chose the way to go through the checkpoint indicated by green symbols – the “green corridor”, where in accordance with customs rules goods (things, currency etc.) which are not subject to written declaration. Accordingly, with the customs legislation of Ukraine, the export of cash from Ukraine by individuals-residents in the amount of more than 10,000 euros should be subject to written declaration and if there are documents confirming the legality of its origin.

According to customs, the aforementioned type of offense provides for a court to impose sanctions on the violator in the form of a fine of 100 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens (1700 UAH) and the complete confiscation of temporarily withdrawn currency in state revenue.

However, WinnerLex attroneys Anna Vinnychenko and Eleonora Pylypenko managed to protect the rights of their client in a court of law in such a way as to avoid punishment in the form of confiscation and oblige the customs authorities to return the currency seized from him in full. The court made a positive decision, and the client is only required to pay a fine of 1700 hryvnias instead of loosing all funds to be confiscated.

So, high-quality legal support in asserting your rights is really important, but before crossing the customs border in air traffic, we additionally recommend that you familiarize yourself with the customs control rules and remember the following:

1. A resident individual has the right to import and export cash to Ukraine in the amount exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 euros, only if it is declared in written to the customs authority in full. Cash export from Ukraine by resident individuals in an amount exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 euros is possible with the availability of documents confirming their withdrawal of cash from their own accounts in banks, and receipts for foreign exchange transactions with this cash (if such operations) exclusively for the amount that exceeds the equivalent of 10,000 euros.
2. Without a written declarating at the checkpoint when crossing the border by air in hand luggage and / or baggage, citizens can import items whose total invoice value does not exceed the equivalent of 1000 euros.
3. Goods whose total invoice value exceeds the equivalent of 1,000 euros and not more than 10,000 euros are subject to written declaring. Goods defined by such valuable limits are subject not only to written declaration, but are also subject to import duty at a rate of 10 percent and value-added tax at a rate established by the Tax Code of Ukraine, in part, exceeding the equivalent of 1000 euros.