Russian rules for imports from the EAEU may become noticeably stricter. The Ministry of Finance proposed calculating VAT at the market price in cases where goods are imported at a cost below a comparable market level. For the state, this is a way to reduce budget losses and bring some of its foreign trade operations out of the shadows. This is a new control zone for businesses, where the transaction price will be checked more deeply than before.
The point of the initiative is that the discounted or disputed price itself will no longer be automatically accepted as a tax base. If the actual cost is below the minimum value of the market range, the tax authorities will be able to focus on the minimum market price. This approach is particularly sensitive for segments with a high proportion of parallel channels, complex distribution, and price differences between the Union countries.
According to the open retellings of the project, the new rule will apply to goods that are subject to mandatory labeling or traceability. This means that the control will primarily affect those categories for which the state already has a digital surveillance loop. For white businesses, this is a signal to prepare an evidence base on pricing, contracts, and procurement logic in advance.
The main effect of the innovation will be not only fiscal. The foreign economic activity market will receive a new standard of caution: importers will have to calculate the transaction price more accurately, compare it with market benchmarks and prepare arguments in case of a dispute with the tax authorities. In the coming months, the topic of “market price” may become one of the most discussed topics in trade within the EAEU.
