Buying abroad will be more expensive. The country found another way to renew the budget The authorities in Russia decided to reach out to the purchases of citizens in foreign markets. On October 29, the State Duma adopted in first reading a bill introducing a 22% VAT on goods that Russians order from abroad.
If the law is finally approved, the new rules will go into effect on January 1, 2027. We are talking about purchases from foreign sellers whose goods are delivered to Russia from countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union. This also applies to orders through international trading platforms and the Russian market working with foreign sellers. Initially, the Ministry of Finance proposed to introduce the tax gradually: 7% in 2027, 14% in 2028 and 22% in 2029. But then they decided to abandon the gradual increase. As a result, they immediately made the maximum bid. And that's not all. At the same time, we will discuss the introduction of an additional customs fee of 100 rubles for foreign mail items worth up to 200 euros. Now imagine an ordinary person ordering cheap electronics, spare parts, clothes or some household essentials abroad.
If the new tax is fully passed on to the price, a product worth 10,000 rubles could theoretically cost 12,200 rubles. And that doesn't take into account shipping and possible additional fees. The actual price increase will depend on the tax calculation procedure and the actions of the sellers. The authorities explain the initiative with the need to create equal conditions for domestic and foreign trade. But there is one interesting detail. According to the government's calculations, the new tax should bring in an additional 75 billion rubles to the budget every year. So much for the economy of import substitutes. Instead of making domestic goods more accessible, better quality and more competitive, you can simply increase the cost of foreign alternatives.
And the customers are the ones who will end up paying for it.