Customs planning is carried out under the premise of complying with relevant customs laws and regulations. It is an optimal choice for import and export tax clearance after careful study and comparison of relevant customs laws and regulations. Therefore, to implement successful customs planning, it is necessary to master the relevant laws and regulations. On the one hand, we can grasp the boundary between non-violation and violation of the law, so that customs planning behavior can withstand the test of the law; on the other hand, we can also strive for the legitimate rights and interests of importers and exporters according to the law.
The opposite of compliance is non-compliance. In the legal framework and discourse system of customs supervision, non-compliance includes smuggling and violation of regulations. Among them, smuggling is the most serious violation of the law that the customs cracks down on, and it is also the red line and bottom line that import and export operators cannot touch.
Smuggling includes two different types of violations, namely “smuggling of administrative violation nature” and “smuggling crime of criminal crime”. For the convenience of expression, the former is called smuggling (many laws “smuggling” contains both meanings of smuggling, readers please pay attention to the distinction), and the latter is called smuggling crime, and the two are collectively referred to as smuggling.
Article 82, paragraph 1 of the Customs Law defines the meaning of smuggling:
“Any violation of this Law and relevant laws and administrative regulations to evade Customs supervision, evade taxes payable, or evade the State’s prohibitive or restrictive management of entry and exit, and any of the following circumstances shall be considered smuggling:
(a) transporting, carrying, or mailing goods or articles that are prohibited or restricted from entry or exit by the State, or goods or articles that are subject to tax payment in accordance with the law;
(b) selling bonded goods, specific duty-exempt goods, other Customs-supervised goods, or imported foreign means of transport within the country without Customs permission, without paying taxes payable, or presenting relevant licenses;
(c) evading Customs supervision and engaging in other acts that constitute smuggling.”
From a legislative perspective, the above definition adopts a definition method that “combines generalization and enumeration”, that is, the law not only expresses the essential characteristics of smuggling from the perspective of its connotation, but also lists the specific behavioral patterns of smuggling in an enumerated manner. The two must be combined to understand smuggling.
There are many specific methods of smuggling, which can be divided into four types according to the provisions of Articles 82 and 83 of the Customs Law.
The first is smuggling by bypassing customs, that is, goods, articles, and means of transport enter and exit the country without passing through the places where customs are established, attempting to completely avoid contact with customs for smuggling.
The second is smuggling during customs clearance, that is, smuggling under the “nose” of customs through false declarations, concealment, and concealment.
The third is smuggling in subsequent links, which is generally first legally imported or formally legally imported, and then illegally handled, mainly unauthorized sales of bonded goods, specific tax-exempt goods, etc.
Fourth, indirect smuggling behavior. According to Article 83 of the Customs Law, “(i) directly illegally purchasing smuggled imported goods and articles from smugglers; (ii) in inland seas, territorial waters, boundary rivers, and boundary lakes, ships and people on board transport, purchase, and sell goods and articles that are prohibited or restricted from entering or leaving the country, or transport, purchase, and sell goods that should pay taxes according to law without legal proof” shall be treated as smuggling behavior. These behaviors do not have typical smuggling characteristics, but they are closely related to smuggling, providing sales and circulation channels for smuggled goods and articles, and becoming an important link in completing smuggling. Therefore, in order to severely crack down on smuggling violations, the Customs Law treats these behaviors as smuggling behavior.