Was the imported shampoo taxed 80 yuan? You Might Have Fallen into These 3 Traps

When Ms. Zhang placed an order for that popular Japanese shampoo on the e-commerce platform, she never expected that this daily necessity worth 200 yuan would end up with an additional 80 yuan in tariffs. Like Mr. Li, many consumers are full of questions about the customs declaration process behind imported daily necessities - why is there such a huge price difference for the same product? What items might be detained by the customs? Today, let's lift the mysterious veil of the customs declaration for imported daily necessities.

The customs declaration process is not a simple "pay and pick up the goods", but a sophisticated system involving declaration, inspection, and taxation. Taking the cases served by Zhongshitong as an example, on average, a set of German imported kitchenware needs:

• 1-3 days to complete the pre-audit of documents (invoice, packing list, certificate of origin)
• 0.5-2 days to wait for customs inspection (about 15% of daily necessities are randomly inspected)
• 1 working day to complete the tax calculation

Ms. Li was once required to pay additional taxes due to "inconsistent declared value", and the problems lay in three common types of declaration errors:

• Declaring a set as individual items (such as a combination of shampoo and conditioner)
• Ignoring the cost of packaging materials (the price of gift boxes needs to be included in the total price)
• Misusing the HS code (toothbrushes are classified as 9615 instead of 8210)

The customs declaration system of Zhongshitong shows that in the cases of returned shipments of daily necessities in 2023, 67% were related to the misuse of HS codes.

As an individual buyer, when Mr. Zhang purchased Korean facial masks through cross-border e-commerce:

• He enjoys a cross-border tax-free quota of 5,000 yuan per year.
• He is subject to a comprehensive cross-border e-commerce tax of 70% of the taxable amount.

While enterprises importing the same product need to:

• Provide a record-filing certificate for cosmetics.
• Pay 13% value-added tax + 10% consumption tax (in the general trade mode).

With the implementation of new policies such as "advance declaration" and "two-step declaration", professional institutions like Zhongshitong have already started to use:

• AI intelligent classification system (the accuracy rate of HS codes is increased to 98%).
• Blockchain traceability technology (tracking logistics documents throughout the process).
• Cross-border tax calculator (estimating the comprehensive cost in real time).

When you purchase imported toothpaste or body wash next time, you might as well ask yourself first: Do you understand the real customs clearance cost of the goods? Welcome to share your cross-border shopping experiences in the comment section, or send a private message to obtain a personalized customs declaration plan. After all, each imported daily necessity that arrives safely in your hands is a perfect balance between compliance and efficiency.