The first question that every craftsman who decides to sell his handicrafts faces is - where to find buyers? Everyone chooses their own strategy: someone actively participates in exhibitions of handmade goods, someone cooperates with stores and online platforms, and someone finds customers through their own website, blog or social media page. networks. But so far, only a few Ukrainian craftsmen are focusing their efforts on the foreign market. With the development of Internet technologies, this has become more than realistic.
But before answering the question of how Ukrainian needlewomen can take advantage of new opportunities, let's figure out what are the advantages of entering foreign markets and whether you need to go there. If we talk about the benefits, then:
Firstly, this is a much, much larger sales market than can be found in Ukraine or even in the CIS countries;
Secondly, you will be able to sell your products for more, as European and American buyers value handmade products and are willing to pay for them;
Thirdly, in the West, where electronic payments are developed and there are return mechanisms, buying with 100% prepayment is already an established practice. The benefits of this payment model are clear.
Of course, not all handmade goods will be in high demand. Some things, given the cost and delivery time, are more profitable to order from local craftsmen and design studios. If you make really original, stylish things that correspond to fashion trends, your chances of success increase significantly (at the same time, as practice shows, these products do not have to be complex in execution). So that your efforts to find buyers abroad are not wasted, it is important to assess how promising the niche of handmade goods you have chosen is and, perhaps, even refocus on another niche. In order not to make guesses from the air, we advise you to learn from the experience of already successful sellers and analyze what products they buy well and why. Where can I get such information, you can read more in the articles:
And now let's move on to the main question of this article - how can our craftsmen sell handicrafts abroad?
This is where the Internet comes to the rescue. There are specialized international online platforms for the sale of handmade goods. The largest of them is the American site www.etsy.com, which brings together tens of thousands of sellers and millions of buyers around the world. By the way, there is already a community of Ukrainian craftsmen on etsy, although not a big one yet. Other sites include http://en.dawanda.com/ , http://www.artfire.com/ , http://www.zibbet.com/ , which are mainly targeted at buyers from European countries. Considering that it will take approximately the same time to create a web store and promote in each of these services (and it is not small!), We advise you to start with etsy, as from the largest platform. We also have analogues of similar Internet resources - this is the Fair of Masters in Russia and www.skrynya.net in Ukraine, but they have ten times less audience of buyers.
We will briefly describe the principle of operation of these services for those who are not familiar with them yet. Each seller can create an online showcase of their products on the site - in fact, this is your personal online store, which has a unique Internet address, name and logo that you choose yourself. You can post photos of your products, set a price, payment and delivery method, and specify other important information. By the way, you can sell not only own handicrafts (resale of other people's products is prohibited by the rules), but also vintage items (over 20 years old) and needlework materials. To create your merchant store, you need to register and fill in the required data, such as your store name and payment details (more on payment below). All correspondence on order approval is conducted directly with the buyer, and, importantly, is stored in your account. Also, there is a system of reviews about sellers and buyers, while a review can only be left after the transaction is completed on the site, so everything is fair;).
Of course, all this is not free, but the payments are quite moderate. For example, on etsy.com you pay $0.20 for placing one product for 4 months (that is, for example, placing 100 positions will cost you 160 UAH / 4 months), as well as a commission of 3.5% from each sale. On the dawanda.com there is no accommodation fee, but the commission is higher - 5%. This money is automatically deducted from your account after receiving payment from the buyer. And on zibbet.com another model - there is no commission and placement fee, but if you want to have a more advanced store with placement of more than 50 products and additional features, it will cost you $79 per year. Also, sites can charge for additional "chips" for your store. For example, on dawanda.com there is a fee for placing a product in two categories at the same time (0.40 euros).
When selling handmade goods to foreign buyers, there are 2 pressing issues that need to be thought out in advance - this is accepting payments and delivery of products. I would like to dwell on them in more detail.
How to accept payments from the sale of handicrafts abroad?
As already mentioned, in the West, people have long been accustomed to paying for all purchases on the Internet and not only by bank transfer, using a bank card. The PayPal electronic payment system is very popular. By connecting your current bank account to the system, you can make purchases and accept payments all over the world. PayPal is essentially an intermediary between the bank where you have a current account and the buyer or seller, and provides additional security, since it is not required to provide payment card details to third parties to make a payment. All the largest online trading platforms and stores are connected to PayPal, etsy.com and other services mentioned above are no exception.
Thus, to make it convenient for your customers to buy from you, you need to get a Visa payment card (class not lower than Classic) or Mastercard and connect it to the PayPal system. To do this, register on the PayPal website: the registration process is basically intuitive, for convenience, select the Russian language. One caveat: you should have some money on your account, as $ 1.95 will be withdrawn from the account to check the card, but this amount will be returned after the card is confirmed. Next, when registering on etsy.com or other sites, select the PayPal payment method and enter the e-mail of your PayPal account (it serves to identify the user). And that's it - now you can accept payments from your customers!
But there is one problem here: Ukraine, like Russia, is on the list of countries for which cashing out from PayPal is not available. That is, the money that you receive from buyers cannot be transferred to a payment card opened in a Ukrainian bank and then withdrawn from an ATM. They will remain in the PayPal system and can be spent on purchases in foreign online stores without any problems. For obvious reasons, this option will not suit all Ukrainian masters. How to be? There are several workarounds on how to withdraw money from PayPal and get your hard-earned money in your hands. Let's take a look at them:
Option 1. If you have relatives or friends living in countries where there are no problems with PayPal (and these are the USA, Canada and EU countries), you can arrange with them to accept payments. To do this, you need to link a card issued by them to PayPal, and also consider the way in which they will then transfer money to you in Ukraine.
Option 2. You can use the services of intermediary sites that, for a certain commission, will help you receive and cash out funds. For example, the service http://www.seller-online.com (they take 9% commission for payment amounts up to $1000 plus $0.25 and transferring money to a card or account in UAH), http://ex-money.org/ ( provide a service for withdrawing money from PayPal to a WebMoney wallet, and then they can be cashed out using standard methods).
Option 3. You can use the service. Its peculiarity is that you do not need to open a bank account, when registering and opening an account with Payoneer, you receive a Payoneer Mastercard Card. You can read detailed instructions on how to withdraw money from PayPal using Payoneer.
Delivery of the order abroad.
When the order is completed and the money from the buyer is quietly making you happy in your account, you need to take the last step - successfully deliver the product to the customer. Here you need to take into account 2 nuances.
Firstly, when posting abroad, you need to take care of the safety of the cargo and protect it as much as possible from possible damage during transportation. How to do this, we already wrote in the article How to pack a fragile item for mailing. We will only add that when thinking over the packaging, you should not immediately “tightly” seal the parcel at home, since at Ukrposhta you will first be asked to show the contents.
Secondly, you need to take into account the cost of delivery, which will be different depending on the direction and weight of the parcel or parcel, in addition, for fragile cargo, an extra charge of 50% of the base rate is applied. Tariffs of Ukrposhta can be viewed on the official website. On etsy, the shipping cost can be set separately, then when the buyer pays for the goods, it will be added to the cost of the goods. But you can also make a marketing move - set free shipping (it is clear that the cost of delivery is simply included in the cost of the goods).
№ 4/2008
A trading company sells goods abroad. In this case, the accountant has to draw up documents that are not used when working in the domestic market. In addition, the company must open bank accounts for foreign exchange transactions. About this and other features of conducting foreign economic activity of a trading company - in our article.
Features of working with bank accounts
To receive payment for the goods (prepayment), the company must open a current and transit currency accounts for foreign currency in the bank. Foreign exchange earnings are credited to a transit foreign exchange account, and then credited to a current foreign exchange account. Settlements made from a transit currency account include, for example, the payment of a commission to a bank.
Example 1
On August 7, 2008, 5,000 euros were received on the transit account of Alfa LLC. The euro exchange rate on this date is 36.4564 rubles. for the euro.
The Bank transfers the foreign currency received on the transit currency account to the organization's current currency account on the next day.
The accountant of Alpha LLC needs to record the following in the accounting.
If the contract amount exceeds USD 5,000, the firm should issue a transaction passport, and in two copies. This must be done after the conclusion of the contract, but before the currency transaction.
The transaction passport together with the foreign trade contract shall be submitted to the bank.
In addition, when making transactions on a foreign currency account, the company must submit a certificate of foreign exchange transactions.
Customs duties and fees
When exporting goods from Russia, the company must pay customs duties. They are calculated and paid in accordance with the Customs Code of the Russian Federation and the Law of the Russian Federation dated May 21, 1993 No. 5003-1 "On the Customs Tariff". So, to calculate the customs duty, it is necessary to establish the customs value of the goods and determine the rate of customs duty. Customs duty rates are set by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Customs duty = Customs value of goods x Customs duty rate.
In addition, customs fees must be paid at customs.
They are charged:
- for customs clearance;
– for customs escort;
- for storage.The amount of the customs fee for the customs clearance of goods depends on the customs value of the goods and ranges from 500 to 100,000 rubles. The company must pay the fee before or simultaneously with the filing of the customs declaration. The basis is Article 357.6 of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation.
The amount of the customs fee for customs escort depends on the distance, and the amount of the storage fee depends on the weight of the goods concerned.
Customs clearance fees are classified as commercial expenses and are reflected in the accounting records on account 44 “Sale Expenses”.
As for customs duties, the Instructions for the Application of the Chart of Accounts for their accounting recommend opening a sub-account "Export duties" for the account. But, according to the author, it will not be a mistake to account for duties on account 44 “Sales costs”.
Example 2
Trading company "Beta" LLC exports 100 cubic meters. m timber. The customs value of the consignment is 10,000 euros. The customs duty rate is 10 percent, but not less than 5 euros per 1 cubic meter. m.
The euro exchange rate as of August 7, 2008 at the time of filing the customs declaration is 36.4564 rubles/euro. The customs duty calculated at the rate of 10 percent is EUR 1,000 (EUR 10,000 x 10%). This amount is more than 500 euros (5 EUR/cubic meters x 100 cubic meters), so the trading company has to pay customs duty in the amount of 1000 euros.
The rate of customs duty for clearance of goods is 1000 rubles.
The accountant of Beta LLC will write down:
Debit sub-account "Export duties" Credit () sub-account "Calculations on customs duties and fees"
- 36,456.4 rubles. (1000 EUR x 36.4564 RUB/EUR) - export duty charged;Debit sub-account "Sales expenses" Credit () sub-account "Calculations for customs duties and fees"
- 1000 rubles. - the customs clearance fee has been charged;Debit () sub-account "Calculations on customs duties and fees" Credit
- 37,456.4 rubles. (36,456.4 + 1000) - export duty and customs clearance fee paid.Documentation of export sales
When selling goods to a company, it is necessary to issue:
- invoice. Note that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows the indication of amounts in the invoice in foreign currency. But only if, under the terms of the transaction, the obligation is denominated in foreign currency. Reason - paragraph 7 of article 169 of the main tax document;
- a customs declaration with marks of the customs authority that released the goods in the export mode, and the customs authority on whose territory the goods were exported outside the territory of Russia;
- a bill of lading with marks of the customs authorities.To obtain a customs declaration and transport documents (their copies) with the mark "Goods exported", you need to apply to the border customs authority with a statement confirming the actual export of the goods. Copies of the customs declaration, transport documents, an envelope with the address of the organization and paid stamps should be attached to it (of course, if the documents should be sent by mail).
Note that in order to account for settlements with foreign buyers, it is recommended to open a sub-account “Settlements with buyers and customers in foreign currency” for the account.
Features of VAT calculation
In accordance with Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, export transactions are taxed at a rate of 0 percent. However, in order to confirm the fact of export, the taxpayer will have to submit a number of documents to the tax office (Article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
These include:
- contract (copy) of the organization with a foreign person for the supply of goods outside the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
– a bank statement (its copy) confirming the actual receipt of proceeds from the sale of goods specified in the contract to the company's account in a Russian bank;
- a customs declaration (its copy) with the marks of the Russian customs authority that released the goods in the export regime, and the Russian customs authority in the region of operation of which the checkpoint is located, through which the goods were exported outside the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
- copies of transport, shipping and (or) other documents with marks of border customs authorities confirming the export of goods outside the territory of the Russian Federation.The firm must submit these documents to the tax office at the same time as filing the VAT return. The basis is paragraph 10 of Article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, this must be done no later than 180 calendar days, counting from the moment the goods are placed under the customs regime for export.
Otherwise, the sale of goods is subject to taxation at the normal rates. Subsequently, upon submission of documents confirming the application of the 0 percent rate, the paid amount of tax is returned in the manner and on the conditions provided for in Article 176 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
And if the company sells goods in the domestic and foreign markets?
In this case, it is necessary to determine how to allocate the "input" VAT.
The tax legislation stipulates that the amount of tax on transactions for the sale of goods taxed at a rate of 0 percent is calculated separately for each such transaction (clause 6, article 166 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, the company needs to keep records in such a way as to be able to correctly determine the tax base for transactions subject to VAT at various rates.
However, the main tax document does not define the rules for maintaining separate accounting for the case under consideration. Therefore, they should be developed independently and fixed in the accounting policy.
It should be noted that the simplest way to distribute VAT is when goods (works, services) for their sale within the country are purchased separately from those intended for sale abroad.
But, unfortunately, in most cases it is impossible to determine the intended use of the goods at the time of purchase, and the “input” VAT will have to be distributed. In this case, the organization can use the algorithm given in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for taxpayers carrying out transactions subject to and exempt from VAT (clause 4, article 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Example 3
Sigma LLC in July 2008 purchased goods in the amount of 295,000 rubles. (including VAT - 45,000 rubles). The exact purpose of the use of the goods is not defined (whether the goods will be sold for export or not).
The company's accounting policy stipulates that the share of "input" VAT is distributed based on the share of export earnings in the total revenue (excluding VAT) per quarter.
In September, Sigma LLC sold the purchased goods in full.
Let's say that during the quarter 60 percent of the goods were sold on the domestic market, and 40 percent - on the external market.
A package of documents on export sales was collected in October.
In addition, in August, the organization incurred expenses for maintaining the office (, telephone, etc.) in the amount of 23,600 rubles (including VAT - 3,600 rubles).
In the accounting of Sigma LLC, operations will be reflected in the following entries.
Debit Credit
- 295,000 rubles. - paid goods to the supplier;Debit Credit
- 250,000 rubles. (295,000 - 45,000) - goods received from the supplier (the direction of their use is unknown);Debit sub-account "VAT on transactions taxed at different rates" Credit
- 45,000 rubles. – “input” VAT on purchased goods was taken into account;Debit Credit
- 1440 rubles. (3,600 rubles x 40%) - restored VAT on office maintenance costs in terms of export costs.In October:
Debit Credit sub-account "VAT on transactions taxed at a rate of 0 percent"
- 19 440 rubles. (18 000 +1440) - accepted for deduction of VAT attributable to export goods.Mandatory sale of proceeds abolished
Effective January 1, 2007, Federal Law No. 173-FZ of December 10, 2003 “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control” removed the article on the mandatory sale of a portion of foreign exchange earnings in the domestic foreign exchange market of the Russian Federation. Thus, now the company can fully dispose of the funds received on its account.
Accounting for advances in foreign currency
In accordance with PBU 3/2006 “Accounting for Assets and Liabilities Denominated in Foreign Currency”, foreign currency advances received from buyers are recalculated into rubles at the exchange rate of the Bank of Russia as of the date of receipt. Further recalculation of such payments is not made. With regard to the calculation of VAT on advances received, the tax base does not include the amount of payment, partial payment received on account of the upcoming supply of goods (rendering services, performing work), which are taxed at a tax rate of 0 percent (clause 1, article 154 of the Tax Code RF).
Recently, an interview was published with the head of the Russian branch of the large international online auction site eBay. Vladimir Dolgov mentioned that collectible and designer items from Russia are also popular with foreign buyers, and told in detail how to start selling goods to foreign buyers. Here are some quotes from the article.
About the rules of trading on eBay
You can trade on eBay provided that the seller and the goods are located in different places. For example, the seller is registered in Russia, and the goods themselves come from a factory, say, in Vietnam. So for overseas sales, the basic recipe is to sit down, look around, and find an interesting opportunity. How to sell - eBay will provide you. But it is necessary to offer a product that someone needs.
Where to begin?
Suppose you have found your niche - a product that will definitely be in demand. And ready to put your goods on eBay.
First of all, you will need a PayPal account to work. You can start by opening a personal account, it's very fast. But if there are regular sales, PayPal will quickly offer to open a corporate account. Therefore, if you are serious about doing business, it is better to start with it right away. There are detailed instructions for opening an account / You will need to upload photocopies of your constituent documents - and after a while PayPal will open a corporate account for you.
On the eBay site itself, there is a “sales” link in the top line, where you can go from buyers to the sellers category. And that's it, you can exhibit the goods.
At first, you will have limits on selling. No more than 10 items worth $1,000. But as soon as you have your first sale, you immediately increase the limits on the amount and money.
Sales went. What's next?
Now the main thing is to take care of your customers. If they ask questions, answer them, and the sooner the better. Unanswered questions lower your rating as a seller. And the higher the rating, the higher your products appear in the search results. Statistics show that very few people will scroll through pages or change settings in order to reach your product.
If something is not clear, you can contact the Seller Support Center in Russia.
How eBay plans to make it easier for the seller
When we began to develop sales from Russia, we began to talk with sellers and discuss their problems. From these conversations, we realized that for many, listing your product on eBay is not such an easy story. The web interface in which you need to fill in several fields is not very convenient. And in general, it is quite archaic, since it is dangerous to change the interface when hundreds of thousands of sellers around the world are already using it. But at the same time, our new sellers may have problems.
Therefore, we made a kind of "shell" for the site, which will be called eBayMag. This is a program that will help from the computer to fill in all the fields necessary for the display of goods. In addition, everyone who wants to sell abroad needs to write a description of the lots in English - for this, eBayMag will have a built-in automatic translator. There will be something better in a while, but I can't reveal the details just yet.
And eBayMag should also solve the problem of listing lots in different countries. eBay has many different regional sites. eBay.com itself is an American site. And there are regional ones - English, French, German and many others. If a person searches from an English site, then products from the American eBay.com will be the last in the search results. With this in mind, we made it so that eBayMag allows you to list your product on all sites at once without unnecessary complications.
eBayMag is currently being tested, but we will offer it to sellers in the near future.
A trading company sells goods abroad. In this case, the accountant has to draw up documents that are not used when working in the domestic market. In addition, the company must open bank accounts for foreign exchange transactions. About this and other features of conducting foreign economic activity of a trading company - in our article.Features of working with bank accounts
To receive payment for the goods (prepayment), the company must open a current and transit currency accounts for foreign currency in the bank. Foreign exchange earnings are credited to a transit foreign exchange account, and then credited to a current foreign exchange account. Settlements made from a transit currency account include, for example, the payment of a commission to a bank.
Example 1Do not forget to issue a transaction passportOn August 7, 2008, 5,000 euros were received on the transit account of Alfa LLC. The euro exchange rate on this date is 36.4564 rubles. for the euro.
The Bank transfers the foreign currency received on the transit currency account to the organization's current currency account on the next day.
The accountant of Alpha LLC needs to record the following in the accounting.
Debit 52 subaccount "Transit currency account" Credit 62 subaccount "Settlements with foreign buyers on received advances"
- 182,282 rubles. (5000 EUR x 36.4564 RUB/EUR) - an advance payment has been received from the buyer.Debit 52 subaccount "Current currency account" Credit 52 subaccount "Transit currency account"
- 182,368.5 rubles. (5000 EUR x 36.4737 RUB/EUR) - the currency was transferred to the current foreign currency account;Debit 52 sub-account "Transit currency account" Credit 91 sub-account "Other income"
- 86.5 rubles. (182,368.5 - 182,282) - the exchange rate difference that has arisen on the transit currency account has been written off.
If the contract amount exceeds USD 5,000, the firm should issue a transaction passport, and in two copies. This must be done after the conclusion of the contract, but before the currency transaction.
The transaction passport together with the foreign trade contract shall be submitted to the bank.
In addition, when making transactions on a foreign currency account, the company must submit a certificate of foreign exchange transactions.
Customs duties and fees
When exporting goods from Russia, the company must pay customs duties. They are calculated and paid in accordance with the Customs Code of the Russian Federation and the Law of the Russian Federation dated May 21, 1993 No. 5003-1 "On the Customs Tariff". So, to calculate the customs duty, it is necessary to establish the customs value of the goods and determine the rate of customs duty. Customs duty rates are set by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Customs duty = Customs value of goods x Customs duty rate.
In addition, customs fees must be paid at customs.
They are charged:
- for customs clearance;
- for customs escort;
- for storage.
The amount of the customs fee for the customs clearance of goods depends on the customs value of the goods and ranges from 500 to 100,000 rubles. The company must pay the fee before or simultaneously with the filing of the customs declaration. The basis is Article 357.6 of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation.
The amount of the customs fee for customs escort depends on the distance, and the amount of the fee for storage depends on the weight of the goods concerned.
Customs clearance fees are classified as commercial expenses and are reflected in the accounting records on account 44 “Sale Expenses”.
As for customs duties, the Instructions for the Application of the Chart of Accounts for their accounting recommend opening a sub-account "Export duties" for account 90. But, according to the author, it will not be a mistake to account for duties on account 44 “Sales expenses”.
Example 2Documentation of export salesTrading company "Beta" LLC exports 100 cubic meters. m timber. The customs value of the consignment is 10,000 euros. The customs duty rate is 10 percent, but not less than 5 euros per 1 cubic meter. m.
The euro exchange rate as of August 7, 2008 at the time of filing the customs declaration is 36.4564 rubles/euro. The customs duty calculated at the rate of 10 percent is EUR 1,000 (EUR 10,000 x 10%). This amount is more than 500 euros (5 EUR/cubic meters x 100 cubic meters), so the trading company has to pay customs duty in the amount of 1000 euros.
The rate of customs duty for clearance of goods is 1000 rubles.
The accountant of Beta LLC will write down:
Debit 90 sub-account "Export duties" Credit 68 (76) sub-account "Calculations on customs duties and fees"
- 36,456.4 rubles. (1000 EUR x 36.4564 RUB/EUR) - export duty charged;Debit 44 sub-account "Sales expenses" Credit 68 (76) sub-account "Calculations for customs duties and fees"
- 1000 rubles. - the customs clearance fee has been charged;Debit 68 (76) sub-account "Calculations on customs duties and fees" Credit 51
- 37,456.4 rubles. (36 456.4 + 1000) - export duty and customs clearance fee paid.
When selling goods to a company, it is necessary to issue:
- invoice. Note that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows the indication of amounts in the invoice in foreign currency. But only if, under the terms of the transaction, the obligation is denominated in foreign currency. Reason - paragraph 7 of article 169 of the main tax document;
- a customs declaration with the marks of the customs authority that released the goods in the export mode, and the customs authority on whose territory the goods were exported outside the territory of Russia;
- a bill of lading with marks of the customs authorities.
To obtain a customs declaration and transport documents (their copies) with the mark "Goods exported", you need to apply to the border customs authority with a statement confirming the actual export of the goods. Copies of the customs declaration, transport documents, an envelope with the address of the organization and paid stamps should be attached to it (of course, if the documents should be sent by mail).
Note that in order to account for settlements with foreign buyers, it is recommended to open a subaccount “Settlements with buyers and customers in foreign currency” for account 62.
Features of VAT calculation
In accordance with Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, export transactions are taxed at a rate of 0 percent. However, in order to confirm the fact of export, the taxpayer will have to submit a number of documents to the tax office (Article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
These include:
- contract (copy) of the organization with a foreign person for the supply of goods outside the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
- a bank statement (its copy) confirming the actual receipt of proceeds from the sale of goods specified in the contract to the company's account in a Russian bank;
- a customs declaration (its copy) with the marks of the Russian customs authority that released the goods in the export mode, and the Russian customs authority in the region of operation of which there is a checkpoint through which the goods were exported outside the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
- copies of transport, shipping and (or) other documents with marks of border customs authorities confirming the export of goods outside the territory of the Russian Federation.
The firm must submit these documents to the tax office at the same time as filing the VAT return. The basis is paragraph 10 of article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, this must be done no later than 180 calendar days, counting from the moment the goods are placed under the customs regime for export.
Otherwise, the sale of goods is subject to taxation at the normal rates. Subsequently, upon submission of documents confirming the application of the 0 percent rate, the paid amount of tax is returned in the manner and on the conditions provided for in Article 176 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
And if the company sells goods in the domestic and foreign markets?
In this case, it is necessary to determine how to allocate the "input" VAT.
The tax legislation stipulates that the amount of tax on transactions for the sale of goods taxed at a rate of 0 percent is calculated separately for each such transaction (clause 6, article 166 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, the company needs to keep records in such a way as to be able to correctly determine the tax base for transactions subject to VAT at various rates.
However, the main tax document does not define the rules for maintaining separate accounting for the case under consideration. Therefore, they should be developed independently and fixed in the accounting policy.
It should be noted that the simplest way to distribute VAT is when goods (works, services) for their sale within the country are purchased separately from those intended for sale abroad.
But, unfortunately, in most cases it is impossible to determine the intended use of the goods at the time of purchase, and the “input” VAT will have to be distributed. In this case, the organization can use the algorithm given in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for taxpayers carrying out transactions subject to and exempt from VAT (clause 4, article 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Example 3Mandatory sale of proceeds abolishedSigma LLC in July 2008 purchased goods in the amount of 295,000 rubles. (including VAT - 45,000 rubles). The exact purpose of the use of the goods is not defined (whether the goods will be sold for export or not).
The company's accounting policy stipulates that the share of "input" VAT is distributed based on the share of export earnings in the total revenue (excluding VAT) per quarter.
In September, Sigma LLC sold the purchased goods in full.
Let's say that during the quarter 60 percent of the goods were sold on the domestic market, and 40 percent - on the foreign market.
A package of documents on export sales was collected in October.
In addition, in August the organization incurred costs for maintaining the office (rent, telephone, etc.) in the amount of 23,600 rubles (including VAT - 3,600 rubles).
In the accounting of Sigma LLC, operations will be reflected in the following entries.
Debit 60 Credit 51
- 295,000 rubles. - paid goods to the supplier;Debit 41 Credit 60
- 250,000 rubles. (295,000 - 45,000) - goods received from the supplier (the direction of their use is unknown);
- 45,000 rubles. - "input" VAT on purchased goods was taken into account;
- 45,000 rubles. - accepted for deduction of VAT on goods received.In August:
Debit 44 Credit 60
- 20,000 rubles. (23 600 - 3600) - office maintenance expenses are taken into account;Debit 19 sub-account "VAT on transactions taxed at different rates" Credit 60
- 3600 rub. - accounting for VAT on office maintenance costs;Debit 60 Credit 51
- 23 600 rubles. - Paid the cost of maintaining the office;Debit 68 Credit 19 sub-account "VAT on transactions taxed at different rates"
- 3600 rub. - Accepted for VAT deduction on office maintenance costs.In September:
- 18,000 rubles. (45,000 rubles x 40%) - VAT restored on goods sold for export;Debit 19 subaccount "VAT on transactions taxed at a rate of 0 percent" Credit 68
- 1440 rubles. (3,600 rubles x 40%) - VAT was restored on the cost of maintaining an office in terms of expenses related to export.In October:
Debit 68 Credit 19 sub-account "VAT on transactions taxed at a rate of 0 percent"
- 19 440 rubles. (18 000 +1440) - accepted for deduction of VAT attributable to export goods.
Effective January 1, 2007, Federal Law No. 173-FZ of December 10, 2003 “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control” removed the article on the mandatory sale of a portion of foreign exchange earnings in the domestic foreign exchange market of the Russian Federation. Thus, now the company can fully dispose of the funds received on its account.
Accounting for advances in foreign currency
In accordance with PBU 3/2006 “Accounting for Assets and Liabilities Denominated in Foreign Currency”, foreign currency advances received from buyers are recalculated into rubles at the exchange rate of the Bank of Russia as of the date of receipt. Further recalculation of such payments is not made. With regard to the calculation of VAT on advances received, the tax base does not include the amount of payment, partial payment received on account of the upcoming supply of goods (rendering services, performing work), which are taxed at a tax rate of 0 percent (clause 1, article 154 of the Tax Code RF).
Read about why the state supports exports and how to help Russian exporters in the first part.
To figure out whether your product and business scale is suitable for foreign trade, you need to answer yourself the following questions:
- Do you have enough production capacity, raw materials, personnel?
- Does your product meet international standards, target market requirements for packaging, labeling, design?
- What TN VED CU code does your product correspond to, what are the rules for its export?
- What is the best way to sell abroad - through a contract, a foreign trade organization, a commodity exchange or a joint venture?
- What export procedures do you need to go through, what restrictions and benefits can there be?
- What documents are needed for this, how much time and money will be spent on their execution?
- How to look for potential importers and intermediaries?
- Who will you have to compete with in this market, how much will be spent on marketing, how will this affect the price?
- How much will the delivery and insurance of export cargo cost?
A company that wants to deliver its goods abroad needs to soberly assess its production potential and the situation in the intended country of sale. Entering the external market only makes sense when the internal one has become insufficient. It is worth considering a strategy and contacting support institutions for detailed information on the desired market. Usually, enterprises that have achieved success within the country are thinking about expanding the sales market. But this does not mean that they will not have problems and difficulties in the world market.
Deliveries abroad
What are the costs for the exporter?
The information portal "Exporters of Russia" advises the entrepreneur to take into account the following articles in the strategic plan for going abroad:
- packaging costs
- costs for export clearance (this item takes into account the commission of a customs broker for processing the export procedure)
- customs payments (usually this is a customs fee of 750 rubles)
- expenses for issuing certificates of origin (CT-1, form A, general form)
- fare
- cargo insurance costs (if necessary)
- costs for permits and licenses for the export of goods (if necessary)
- banking costs
How is export supported?
To encourage companies to export, the state helps them with advice, tax incentives, export credits and insurance, guaranteed obligations and tariff preferences, and also takes them to international exhibitions.
Domestic exporter can receive:
Full refund of value added tax (VAT). To do this, no later than 180 calendar days from the date of the export transaction, you must provide:
- supply contract
- pro forma invoice
- invoice
- invoice
- bill of lading
- declaration for goods with the stamp "goods exported"
- CMR, international railway and air waybill, bill of lading, etc.
An export credit is a tool for promoting goods on the world market, in which the seller provides a foreign buyer with a loan to purchase it (for which he usually takes a loan from a bank). So the goods will find many more buyers than under the condition of immediate or advance payment. But the seller at the same time risks being left without payment for the delivered goods and remaining a debtor. Export insurance and export guarantees are designed to mitigate this risk.
If an export credit is issued to the seller, then this is pre-export financing - a loan to cover the costs of producing export products. To receive it, you must first make a contact for an export supply.
Export credit interest rate subsidies - To boost demand for Russian high-tech products, the government subsidizes export credit interest to domestic sellers and foreign buyers. Decisions on subsidies are made by officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Export leasing- this is when a bank buys a product from a Russian company in order to lease it to a foreign company. The foreign buyer pays monthly payments in order to repay the cost of the leased property within the agreed period. There is also a direct leasing mechanism, when the goods are leased by the manufacturer himself. Usually, expensive equipment, aircraft, wagons, ships, special equipment, cars, computers, etc. are bought on lease. In Russia, such a service is provided, in particular, by the state-owned company VEB-Leasing.
Free government guarantees- this is when the state undertakes to cover from 85% to 95% of the risks of an exporter, a foreign buyer or banks lending to them in a foreign trade transaction. For example, it guarantees the buyer the return of the advance payment that he transferred to the Russian manufacturer at the stage of production of the ordered equipment.
State guarantees are provided by Roseximbank. With state guarantees, banks are much more willing to issue export credits, and leasing companies conclude leasing deals.
Export Insurance- this is insurance of the risks of the seller, buyer or their creditors under a foreign trade transaction. For example, a domestic exporter may insure the risk of non-payment by a foreign buyer, the risk of delay in payment or its bankruptcy.
This is done by EXIAR (Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance). Unlike state guarantees, this tool is not free - EXIAR takes an insurance premium for its services, the amount of which is calculated individually for each transaction.
Information about foreign markets and free legal advice in specialized organizations can be obtained from trade missions of the Russian Federation abroad (working in 53 countries), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Council for the Development of Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations and the information and analytical center at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Free participation in international exhibitions and business missions(these are meetings with potential buyers), which are organized by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Council for the Development of Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations, the Russian Export Center and local trade missions. The conditions for participation in each specific event depend on which department holds it.
Andrey Artishchev,
head of the company "Art-business"
The embassies were looking for contractors for us to implement our Posture Master device. Most of the sales offices failed, but the Australian trade mission did very well, we have already received payment and shipped the goods to the buyer.
But there are other initiatives as well. In 2014, RVC, together with the Russoft Association, launched and financed a program to support the export of Russian innovative and high-tech products.
Over the past year, representatives of Russian IT companies attended the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, participated in a road show in Switzerland, Software Days in Austria, the Global Technology Symposium in California, Samsung's mobile technology event in South Korea, and business meetings with Chinese, Korean, Singaporean entrepreneurs. In total, more than 450 Russian specialists took part in foreign events, and more than 500 people participated in educational webinars.
So where to go?
If your head is already spinning from these nuances, you should go to the Russian Export Center (REC) - they will tell you about all types of support for exporters and help you get it for free. Perhaps, for a novice exporter, this is an ideal option. At the REC, an entrepreneur will be helped to prepare a contract and tender documentation, conduct negotiations, provide legal support and information support at every stage, and teach how to communicate with relevant departments. Small, medium and large companies, as well as individual entrepreneurs can apply to the REC.
What documents are needed to receive state support?
If a potential exporter needs analytical information about the sales market, it is usually enough to register on the Portal of Foreign Economic Information and send a request to the relevant trade representation. It will be reviewed within 10 working days. You can also contact the information and analytical center at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. But you can apply to organize a business mission in the country you are interested in.
For financial support, you need to contact one of the banks specializing in issuing export loans, insurance and guarantees. The list of documents depends on the type of financial assistance. For example, to obtain a loan from Vnesheconombank, an extensive list of documents is required: originals and notarized copies of documents on state registration and registration with tax authorities, income statement, balance sheet, etc. There are 19 items in the list and several sub-items. A no lesser list will have to be attached along with the application for a guarantee.
