iPad tax whirlwind is getting wider and wider: Please go back to China and go to the country?

The new customs policy aimed at cracking down on the smuggling of electronic products has led to wider inspections. Tax whirlwind has scraped cosmetics and branded bags from the iPad, and overseas consumption seems to have been put on a “golden hoop”.

China’s overseas students have recently been somewhat unhappy. On the American Study Abroad Forum, a post titled “Please ask the majority of foreign students to pay attention and return to China for a streaking job” has built a tall building.

This is because the customs began to be "true". According to the announcement that they have already been issued, the inbound resident passengers are required to bring personal items for personal use with a total value of more than 5,000 yuan overseas, and they are required to tax the excess. For indivisible single items such as luxury watches, branded handbags, etc., full taxation is required.

What can RMB 5000 bring? Perhaps overseas students really want to figure out before returning home. Will Omega watches be taken off? Anyway, iPhone4 can also watch the time, but with the iPhone4 will have to throw Canon EOS, iPad not to think about. In addition, consider again by the way, do you want to hide the brand of Armani?

"Naked clearance" is an exaggerated joke, but many "fruit powders" have already encountered criticism. If you fly from Hong Kong to Shanghai or Frankfurt and look like a fan of electronic products (such as carrying a huge backpack), then you are likely to be asked by the customs to open a baggage search. If you happen to have an iPad in it and you don't get a declaration, unfortunately, you will pay 1,000 yuan to buy a road money, although you may have spent more than 3,000 yuan on this electronic pad.

Kang Yi, who had just returned from Hong Kong not long ago, was so depressing because everything happened to him. What made him crazy was that his iPad was bought in Shanghai a month ago, but he had a majority of them. There are some bad habits: When making a declaration, you are so-so. "I have to pay taxes for my own use. It's just a geese." His experience was generally sympathized by his friends and caused everyone to worry about the iPad's rigorous investigation.

Why Rip iPad?

Why Customs riveted the iPad? Maybe it can be explained by "shooting a headed bird" because it is the most vigorous.

“The furthest distance in the world is that you bought four generations of Apple, and I bought four bags of apples.” For “Fruit Powder”, the farther distance is: Apple stores are open at the door, but there are Hundreds of names come before you.

Foxconn's processing speed and Apple's speed of distribution determine that the mainland "fruit powder" needs a long wait, if not include Apple's "thirsty marketing" strategy.

Hong Kong, as the global iPad “price depression,” has attracted countless “fruit powder”, water guests and cattle, and the price of one of the most popular 16GB iPads is HK$3,888, which is equivalent to about RMB3,300, while the same price in the Mainland is RMB 4,300, a free exercise of “fruit powder” can eliminate “hunger and thirst” and can also obtain a difference of RMB 1,000. And the water passengers between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, an iPad can make more than 400 yuan, two or three sets a day is a thousand dollars income.

Customs began to be “more truthful”, and “bleeding” was not only for water passengers, but also for ordinary consumers who were accustomed to visiting Hong Kong and returning some fresh stuff to go home. According to regulations, the iPad is classified as one of the 20 non-tax exempt products. Passengers are required to pay taxes when they are brought into China from abroad. The duty-paid price is 5,000 yuan per item, and the tax rate is 20%.

Someone is not happy: Whoever has the tax base? The iPad purchased in Hong Kong was only worth more than 3,000 yuan, but it was set at 5,000 yuan when determining the tax base. Now, the price of many computer products (such as netbooks) is less than 5,000 yuan. If all of them are 5,000 yuan, it is obviously unfair.

“The 5,000 yuan tax base is not for the iPad.” Wang Weiqing, assistant director of the Institute of Taxation at Shanghai Jiaotong University’s Institute of Overseas Education, explained that “as early as in 2007, the Customs formulated the “Import Tax Taxes for Incoming Passenger Luggage Items and Personal Mail Items”. Tables and “Tax Completion Price Tables for Inbound Passenger Luggage Items and Personal Mail Items.” Electronic product models have different configurations, and the prices vary greatly. The prices will fall a lot in the market for a while and it is difficult to price each product separately.”

In response, Tu Xinquan, vice president of the WTO Research Institute of the University of International Business and Economics, publicly stated that according to the customs valuation agreement under the WTO’s trade in goods, if consumers pay taxes to the customs, they should pay taxes at normal transaction prices. In other words, if consumers purchased the iPad for 3,000 yuan in Hong Kong, they should eventually use 3,000 yuan as their tax base.

Some scholars put forward the view of Tu Xinquan that the "Scope of Application" in the "Customs Valuation Agreement" indicates that "this agreement applies to goods imported normally in a commercial sense." It is worth mentioning in particular that "non-commercial imports, "Includes passenger entry items or baggage post items, etc." are listed in the "Not applicable to this agreement" in several cases. In other words, iPads carried by passengers are personal items, not goods, and should not be subject to the Customs Valuation Agreement.

However, assuming that a brand-new iPad enters the "normally imported" channel, it should pay "normal transaction price" - for example, 3,000 yuan - as the tax base. The passenger bag is not used, but there are fingerprints on the screen. Oil-tipped iPads have to pay taxes in the amount of 5,000 yuan. Many people cannot think of this.

Articles or goods to combat the smuggling of electronic products, the new policies of the New Deal, the wider the tax inspection whirlwind from the iPad scraped cosmetics, brand-name bags, overseas consumption seems to be put on a "golden hoop."

Pursuant to the "PRC General Administration of the People's Republic of China Announcement No. 54", within the scope of "self-use and reasonable amount", personal items for individuals with foreign tourists with a total value of more than 5,000 yuan, which are brought abroad by inbound resident passengers, shall be obtained. Non-resident travelers carrying personal self-usage items intended to remain in China with a total value of more than RMB 2,000 shall only be taxed on the excess part. For indivisible single items such as luxury watches, branded handbags, etc., full taxation is required.

At the end of the day, even if you carry an Apple product or a Canon camera, which is an old model that has long gone out of the country, the Customs officers will not listen to your endless chatter and even exhausted explanations. Whether the measure is "outside acquisition" or not, it is to see if you declare before leaving the country.

For example, at the airport, you took out an ID card from a wallet, and this wallet just happened to be Hermès. You forgot to declare it before leaving the country. Whether or not the corner of the wallet is worn, it is possible. It is regarded as "acquisition abroad" and is counted in the "total value" of 5,000 yuan.

The New Deal of the Customs has become a double-edged sword. Combatting the purchase of goods has also caused ordinary passengers to complain about it. Some people described it as "pouring out children and dirty water." After all, the line between goods and goods is too vague.

The relevant person in charge of the Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs explained in August this year that according to the “Customs Law”, China differentiates the entry goods into different supervision objects such as goods and articles, and applies different management requirements. Goods that are profitable are not goods but goods. For goods, no matter how much value, they must pay taxes according to the regulations.

However, in terms of specific implementation, "self use" is a vague concept. Customs can not determine whether the Lancome perfume you bought is for colleagues or an online shop. Only "reasonable quantity" can be quantified.

“It is more convenient to operate 5,000 yuan across the board. In practice, it is difficult to distinguish whether the goods carried or imported are for personal use or profit, depending on whether the quantity is reasonable. Excluding smoke, alcohol and 20 kinds of products that are not tax-free, the price is less than 5,000 yuan. The carrying article is generally self-used by default and enjoys tax exemption, said Liu Rong, an associate professor at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics.

The forums where "fruit powder" is gathered can all see how to purchase iPads to avoid tariffs in Hong Kong. There seems to be a move that is widely recognized: preparing a notebook with a variety of iPad application software, a protective film and a protective cover, after the iPad is purchased in Hong Kong, the software is loaded into it, a protective film is attached, a protective cover is installed, and manufacturing There is an illusion of "in use," but the most important step is to declare it before exit.

However, Professor Wang Weiqing pointed out that this painstaking series of processes has a clear loophole: When exiting the declaration forms, it is necessary to specify in detail the serial number of the iPad or other electronic products. This is a unique "identity certification."

Theoretically speaking, this move can be used to purchase milk powder, cosmetics, branded handbags and other commodities that do not require the serial number to be filled in. Visitors only need to have a bunch of goods on the application form before leaving the customs office. Can come back to the scene.

Imagine such a scenario: Meihua visited her cousin Meixi from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, and saw a LV drum package in the living room. He casually praised two sentences. Miho said: It's old. If you don't think about it, take it back. When I don't like it, give it back to me.

Meihua may gladly accept it, but it is slow! According to the current customs regulations, Meihua did not declare this LV bag before exiting the border. It is likely to be taxed when it is brought into the customs, and the branded handbag is an inseparable item. The tax rate is to be levied in full. The tax rate is 20%. . The market price of this drum bag is about 20,000 Hong Kong dollars, and it will be required to receive more than 4,000 yuan. Of course, the premise is that the customs will set the tax base for this package according to the market pricing.

If Meihua wants to borrow this package and avoid heavy taxation by customs, what should we do? She needs to return to Shenzhen first, go to Hong Kong once again, and declare the LV bag before exiting the border. However, it still needs a bit of luck, that is, the customs officer did not ask Meihua to present the LV bag that only existed on the declaration when she left the customs. Meihua took a bag from the cousin's house and entered the customs to issue a declaration form.

Just like this, too... Too frustrating!

Some experts pointed out that "Customs will look at your Hong Kong and Macau Passes. If you show that there are multiple exits and exits in the short term, and the declaration form is filled with a bunch of goods, it is very likely that you will check whether there are these things in your luggage."

You are too busy with Customs? Whether it is between the customs and the consumers, the “wisdom” is constantly escalating.

The price advantage supports Hong Kong's "shopping paradise" status. Ironically, the most popular addition to "Heaven" is "Apple" and the real Red Fuji apples.

As the prices of Hong Kong and Shenzhen appear to be “upside down”, Shenzhen housewives have become popular “to soy sauce in Hong Kong”. Some media calculated a bill: “Sales are sold in Shenzhen for 2 bucks a pack of salt, Hong Kong supermarkets sell for 1.1 HK$, equivalent to only 9 renminbi; Red Fuji apple Shenzhen has sold 6 bucks a jin, an average of a For four bucks, Apples of the same size can buy four in Hong Kong at HK$10; Shenzhen eggs have risen to nine cents, and eggs of similar size can be bought at HK$23 at Hong Kong Wellcome Supermarket. Less than 7 cents; 10 rolls of Vinda toilet paper, Shenzhen supermarket sells 32.5 yuan, Hong Kong supermarket sells 28 Hong Kong dollars; 750 ml loaded rejoice shampoo Shenzhen supermarket sells 39 dollars, Hong Kong 61 dollar can buy Two bottles..."

Faced with a group of housewives with eggs, milk and apples returning from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, even if the Customs wants "tax security", I am afraid that there is not enough energy left.

Where there is a price difference, there are cattle. If a housewife re-sells sugar, salt, and organic soy sauce in boxes to the Mainland (worth less than RMB 5,000), I believe it is not only the toll of 40 yuan between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. After all, it is very difficult for the Customs to determine whether the 5 cans of milk powder in your box are for your own children or for sale in the Taobao shop.

The embarrassment of customs is reminiscent of a scene many years ago: When supermarkets just entered the mainland, customers were in full swing, and the toilets were overcrowded. Some people put their underwear and stockings on the shelves ten to eight, and the shoes were replaced with new ones. "The chicken and the beverage were all eaten in the stomach, and then swaggered out of the door. The management simply did not know what to do.

Supervision requires cost, and many people are "power."

The key to the problem is the price drop. People can not help but ask: Why are things so expensive!

A WiFi version of the 16GB iPad, Hong Kong's price is less than 200 US dollars in Germany or France. However, if we count the customs tax inspection risk and ticket money, the “fruit powder” of these two countries should consider traveling to Luxemburg. The iPad there is 35 dollars cheaper than France and Germany.

"The Economist" magazine has listed an iPad price list of various countries and regions, Germany and France topped the list, iPad price is nearly 700 US dollars; followed by the United Kingdom and Spain, about 680 US dollars; Luxembourg is Europe's "depression price "If we take revenue into account, it is best for consumers in Luxembourg to buy an iPad. They can only buy one at 0.8% of GDP per capita. Hong Kong and the United States have the lowest pre-tax pricing for iPads, but US states impose sales tax on iPads, so Hong Kong is still a global "price deflation."

The price of iPad's international market is higher than that of the United States. Apple CEO Steve Jobs blames this on taxes. According to British law, the product price must contain about 18% VAT, the 16GB WiFi version of the iPad is 429 pounds in the UK, the pre-tax price is only 365 pounds. The price of the iPad in Germany is higher than in other European countries because the German government has just passed a law on copyright taxation of computer products.

The price of the iPad in China was among the 15 countries listed in The Economist. Although China is the processing area of ​​the iPad, Apple’s notebooks produced in the Chinese factory were first shipped to Hong Kong and then shipped to the mainland for sale. % of import duties.

The premium situation is not limited to imported electronic products. "Made in China" Nike shoes sell for $165 in the US store and $190 in China; China assembles a Sony widescreen TV in the US for $800. The price consumers see in Gome is 30% higher.

China is a “world factory” known for delivering low-priced goods to Western consumers, but its residents do not enjoy the benefits of cheap.

The “Los Angeles Times” of the United States reported that in this unusual situation, multinational companies are raising prices in China and “have made a sensible decision.” Their strategy is to use high prices to turn their products into a luxury. “For a country whose citizens have annual income of less than 2,800 US dollars, this seems very unusual, but high prices often bring additional reputation to the products.” China’s consumer class is rising, and the consumption of high-priced international brand products makes people feel “in the Buy a middle class life." Of course, this also increases the minimum wage line for manufacturers.

In a nutshell: There is less money here, and it's silly. Therefore, in the United States, the ice cream thrown by the working class vat vat to the lorry has become a luxury product with a mini-scoop. Summarized with a little harsher words, "brain damage" also has costs.

Fortunately, Haagen-Dazs melts at room temperature, otherwise it will surely add another item to the list of customs custodians - they are really tired.