At the beginning of 2019, my country began to implement a new cross-border e-commerce import tax policy. The General Administration of Customs implemented the tax policy in accordance with the relevant policy content. Its content is mainly to increase the import purchase limit of cross-border e-commerce and expand the product range to better meet people’s consumption needs. The following will analyze the cross-border import tax from two aspects: the increase in transaction limits and the expansion of product range.
1. Increase in transaction limits
(1) Increase in the transaction limit for a single purchase. When buyers purchase products through the import channel of cross-border e-commerce, the single purchase limit is increased from the original 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan. Within the purchase limit of 5,000 yuan, tax benefits can be obtained, that is, the tariff rate is zero. Such an increase in the limit reduces the final price of the product purchased by buyers and promotes an increase in product sales. In terms of import links, the collection of consumption tax and value-added tax shall be implemented in accordance with 70% of the taxable amount stipulated by law.
(2) Increase in the purchase limit per year. The import tax content in cross-border e-commerce will increase the annual cumulative purchase limit from 20,000 yuan to 26,000 yuan. From the perspective of the final purchase price of the buyer, the increase in the annual purchase limit has reduced the unit price of the product, prompting e-commerce sellers to increase their sales volume.
(3) The value of a single purchase exceeds RMB 5,000 and is within the annual limit. If the tax-paid price of a single purchase of a product on a cross-border e-commerce platform exceeds the prescribed limit of RMB 5,000, or the cumulative purchase value per year is within RMB 26,000 and is only for a single product, the buyer will automatically be charged the corresponding tax. The tariff, consumption tax and value-added tax at the import stage will be levied in full according to the product tax rate.
2. Expansion of product scope
my country has adjusted the list of cross-border e-commerce import products, and included products with concentrated consumer demand in recent years into the list, adding 62 products such as ski boots, razor blades, fruity sparkling wine, beer brewed from malt, binoculars, and game consoles. The adjusted list has a total of 1,321 8-digit tax items.