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Which shipments require a customs declaration?
As of 1 July 2021, all parcels arriving from outside of the European Union – purchases from online stores as well as gifts from other private individuals – must be declared, irrespective of the value.
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How can I as a business customer authorise Omniva to declare?
As a business customer, you can authorise Omniva to declare a shipment if you have signed a framework agreement. If the value of the shipment exceeds 150 euros, you must also have a service agreement with the Omniva customs agency. In minu.omniva, the operations concerned with customs shipments can be performed by the individual with the role of the main administrator. The main administrator also receives text messages (if the mobile phone number of the contact person is specified in the e-service environment) or email notifications about arriving shipments.
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In which case does a shipment with a EU label require declaration?
A customs declaration must be submitted in two cases:
1. The goods have been ordered from a EU country, but the country of origin of the goods is outside of the EU, such as China, the United States, Taiwan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, etc.
Online stores often fail to provide this information to the buyer and the person ordering the goods may mistakenly assume that the goods will arrive from the EU and will not be taxable.2. Another reason is the so-called transit of goods, in the case of which the manufacturers dispatch your shipment as goods which will pass through a postal undertaking of a EU country in the form of transit. In this case, the tracking numbers of the shipment include the mark of the respective EU country (the amount of the shipments transiting through Latvia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany is especially high), misleadingly creating an impression as if the goods arrived from this country. In actual fact, the goods originate from outside of the EU, were not subjected to customs operations in the country of entry into the EU (the transit country), and the shipment must therefore be declared and taxed in the destination country – in this case, in Estonia.
Such shipments are marked with a yellow sticker by the postal undertaking of the transit country, which shows to the postal undertaking of the destination country that the shipment does not have the status of intra-EU goods and must undergo customs operations. -
Why is it necessary to specify the value of the shipment (incl. gifts)?
Pursuant to the laws of Estonia, import taxes must be paid on all shipments (incl. gifts) arriving from outside of the EU if the value of the shipment exceeds the tax exempt limit (in the case of gifts to private persons, 45 euros). Thus, the customs values of all shipments must be specified and the content of the shipment described even in the case of a gift.
While the value of commercial shipments is established based on the accompanying documents (invoice, order confirmation, etc.), no such documents are available for parcels sent from one private person to another. In this case, the value of the shipment is set by the sender. The more detailed the description of the content of the parcel, the higher the likelihood that the amount of the tax is lower (as tax-exempt limits may be applied).
If the value of the shipment is not specified, the value exceeds the tax-exempt limit, or the value is unusually low, the shipment is sent to the customs terminal to wait for the submission or further information and declaration. -
I have received a parcel as a gift from a business customer. How should I declare it?
Only a parcel sent from one private person to another is considered a gift.
A gift shipment sent by or to a business customer is not considered a gift for the purposes of the tax law and is subject to taxes from the value of 0 euros. -
Can a copy of the payment order be used to prove the value of a shipment?
It is usually not possible to prove with a payment order that the payment was made for the specific goods, thus, it is not a suitable supporting document. Appropriate supporting documents are the invoice and order confirmation which state the name, amount, and cost of the goods.
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What do I have to do if I have paid for the goods on the basis of one invoice, but the goods arrive in several different shipments (at different times)?
If the goods included in one invoice arrive in different parts, please notify the customs authorities (the Tax and Customs Board or Omniva) upon the arrival of the first shipment that it is a partial shipment. Specify the number of the shipments to arrive at a later date and the tracking numbers of those shipments, if possible.
Email address of the Omniva customs agency: [email protected] -
Which goods am I prohibited from ordering?
Information about prohibited goods can be found here.
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What happens to a shipment if it includes prohibited items, among other things? Will the entire shipment be sent back or only the prohibited goods?
If a shipment includes prohibited items, the recipient may refuse to accept the shipment. In this case, the shipment is sent back or destroyed under the supervision of the customs officials.
If part of the shipment is compliant with all the terms and conditions for declaration, the shipment can be divided into parts, with only the part permitted in the specific country declared. The customs duties are paid for the permitted shipment in this case. Additional customs procedures must be completed in the case of dividing a shipment. All related costs must be borne by the recipient of the shipment. -
How long is a shipment held in the customs terminal?
Pursuant to the law, Omniva holds shipments in the customs terminal for up to 30 days. After the 30-day period, the shipment is sent back to the sender.
If the sender has stated that they refuse to take back the shipment, the shipment is destroyed. -
My shipment was sent to customs control. How long will the customs control take?
The Omniva customs agency does not perform customs control. The customs control is conducted by the Tax and Customs Board, which selects the postal shipments to undergo further control on the basis of its internal work organisation and risk analysis. If the inspection concludes that the shipment is compliant with all requirements, the shipment is released by the Tax and Customs Board. Then, we will deliver the shipment to the delivery point of your choice within five working days. If the Tax and Customs Board decides to hold your shipment as a result of the inspection, you will be notified of this.
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I was notified that the Tax and Customs Board have released my shipment. How do I proceed?
If you have authorised Omniva to declare your shipment, you will not be required to do anything else. When the goods have been released, we are notified automatically by the Tax and Customs Board and we will deliver the shipment within five working days to the delivery point of your choice, informing you in advance by text message and/or email, which also specifies the amount of the taxes and service charges payable.
If you have chosen Omniva as the service provider upon declaring the goods on the website of the Tax and Customs Board, the Tax and Customs Board will notify us automatically of the goods being released. If you are unsure whether or not you have selected Omniva as the service provider, just email the customs declaration in the .pdf format to [email protected]. We will deliver the shipment to you within five working days. -
I would like to send my product to a country outside of the EU for repair works. Do I have to pay the import taxes again when the product is returned?
In the case of warranty repair works, you will not be required to pay the import tax. If you dispatch a product to have repair works done and the fee for the works exceeds the tax-exempt limit, you should draw up the temporary transport declaration with the obligation of later import before sending the product. In this case, you will not be charged value added tax or customs duties upon dispatching the product.
If you have not drawn up a temporary transport declaration, you will be required to prove when the shipment returns that it is the same shipment which you have dispatched for repair works. This can be done by using delivery documents and your correspondence with the seller or with the company which performed the warranty repair works.
In the case of regular repair works, it is not required to pay the import taxes twice for the same product. As you have received a service in the form of the repair works, you will be required to pay value added tax from the cost of the repair works. -
In which case is a postal undertaking entitled to open a shipment?
Shipments may only be opened on the basis of subsection 32 (1) of the Postal Act, pursuant to which a postal service provider has the right to open a closed postal item in order to:
1. protect the content of a damaged postal item or document its condition;
2. identify the sender of the postal item if the postal item is undeliverable;
3. enable the customs control of the postal item.** This is based on an order of a customs inspector of the Tax and Customs Board, thereat, the shipment is opened by an employee of Omniva and the inspection is conducted by the customs inspector.
The shipment which has been opened is marked and a report is drawn up on the opening. A shipment which has been opened (irrespective of the reason) is sealed with a special tape with the text ‘Avatud tolliformaalsusteks’ (‘Opened for customs formalities’). -
Which shipments must be equipped with a customs declaration upon sending?
In the case of sending a parcel or a maxi letter outside of the European Union or an autonomous region of the European Union, the shipment must be accompanied by a customs declaration.
Shipments must also be registered in the customs in the case of temporary transport – for example, in the case of sending the goods to an exhibition or to warranty repair works.
Read more about sending shipments here and about receiving shipments here
