Russian Supreme Court: Vladivostok Customs Unjustifiably Increased Import Duty on Car from South Korea

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The adjustment of the customs value of a car purchased by a Russian citizen in South Korea has been deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

As clarified by the court itself, Russian citizen Victoria Barabanova entered into an agency agreement to purchase a used car in South Korea for $57,800. The import duty amounted to 2.6 million rubles.

Vladivostok Customs believed the price was understated, noting that on a foreign auction website, an identical vehicle was being sold for almost three times more. Consequently, the import duty on the car increased by another 2.8 million rubles.

Victoria had to challenge the decision, arguing that the price information on that website was unreliable.

The first-instance court sided with the citizen, while the appellate and cassation courts, on the contrary, supported Vladivostok Customs.

«Separate rules for determining the value of goods imported for personal use are established because buyers do not engage in business activities and, by business customs, are limited in their ability to provide commercial documents. In case of disagreement with the information provided by the declarant, the burden of proof falls on the customs authority», — commented in the Supreme Court.

Therefore, the Supreme Court, upon considering the cassation appeal, upheld the decision of the first-instance court.