The eCommerce postal domino bricks starts falling

Online shoppers in Sweden Are since March 1st 2018 forced to pay VAT on all items purchased from outside the EU.

PostNord, Sweden’s national carrier, was told by the Swedish Customs Authority to collect VAT on all non-EU packages, including thousands of packages that arrive from China every day.

The changed rules came after a än audit done by Swedish Customs. After review and investigation Customs called a meeting with PostNord to address the loss of billions of Euros due to unpaid consumer VAT.

Tje Swedish Customs Authority and PostNord had different interpretations of legislation, so PostNord was releasing and delivering parcels from countries outside the EU worth less than €22 ($27 USD) to shoppers without asking them to pay VAT.

The VAT will now instead be paid from the first Euro on all items ordered from outside the European Union.

PostNord will also charge an administration fee per package – in line with Postal Regulations – and the buyer will pay both VAT and administration fee even if the product only costs 10 kronor (€1 or $1.20 USD) like items from popular Chinese websites AliExpress and Wish.  The fee will be between 75 and 125 SEak (125 SEK is approx. €12 or $15 USD),

Many experts are convinced that this is the first step towards a new paradigm and approach towards low value parcels, the postal exceptions and eCommerce, which has been the elephant in the room for a very long time.

Have we sen the first domino brick fall?