The postal parcels whose value exceeds €200 will be taxed as of January 1, 2020. “Currently, the ceiling is €430 if the parcels come by air or sea and €300 if these come by land. As from January 1, 2020, these ceilings of €430 and €300 will be diminished to €200. This means that the parcels worth more than €200 will be stopped at the Customs Service and the persons who ordered them will have to pay import taxes, VAT and customs duties,” Dorel Noroc, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, explained at Radio Sputnik Moldova, being quoted by  IPN.

According to the official, this refers to postal parcels used for personal purposes. When the persons order something online and then sell these products at the market, this is an illegality.

Dorel Noroc said the Customs Service receives from postal operators information about the sender and addressee of postal parcels and data about the content and value of the package. The information is analyzed to find out risks. “If the person buys something for personal purposes, no questions appear. If the same person receives daily the same goods, questions appear as this is done for commercial purposes already,” he stated.

The secretary of state added that if the packages are sent by private individuals, not by companies and are also addressed to private individuals, these will not be taxed if their value is lower than €430 (by air or sea) and €300 (by land) respectively. If the parcels come from companies, the ceiling is reduced to €200.

“In the European Union, this ceiling is €22 and will be equal to zero as from 2022. In Ukraine, as far as I know, this is US$150 and will also be lowered as a high ceiling means unfair competition. Someone does not pay taxes and develops a business,” stated Dorel Noroc.