With the end of the transition period of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), the conditions for the exchange of postal items with that country within the EU have changed as of the 1st of January 2021. Postage costs from Latvia to the UK do not change. However, when Latvian residents receive items of a certain value from the UK, they will have to go through customs clearance and pay taxes.

Postal items from Latvia to the UK

• From the 1^st of January 2021 no changes are planned in the cost of sending letter-post items – postcards, letters, small packets and items in wrapper – to the UK: the same tariffs as before will apply to them. 

 

• A VAT rate of 0% instead of the current 21% will apply to postal parcels which are being sent from Latvia to the UK and weighing more than 10kg. For example, if the current tariff for sending a postal parcel weighing 11kg to the UK is EUR 65.99 with VAT, from the 1^st of January 2021 the postage for sending a parcel with an equivalent weight will be EUR 54.54, including VAT.

 

 

• From the 1^st of January 2021 inbound items from the UK are subject to the same customs clearance procedures as items from any other country or territory outside the EU. 

 

• Items with a value up to EUR 22 are not subject to the customs duty or VAT. 

 

• Commercial items, such as goods purchased in an online store, with a value of between EUR 22.01 and EUR 150 are subject to VAT, but those above EUR 150 – both to VAT and the customs duty. 

 

• Non-commercial items – gifts or goods sent by one natural person to another natural person – with a value ranging from EUR 22.01 to EUR 45 are not subject to the customs duty or VAT, but items from EUR 45.01 to EUR 150 and more are subject to both VAT and the customs duty. 

 

 

• The customer will receive information from Latvijas Pasts that an item needs to be cleared through customs in the invitation, which will be delivered as a mobile text message (if the customer has indicated the correct mobile phone number of the recipient on the item) or as a printed notice in the letter-box. 

 

• The invitation will specify that an item subject to customs clearance, which is addressed to the particular customer, has been received at Latvijas Pasts. If the item does not need to be cleared through customs, the customer will be served an invitation to receive the item without additional information about the required customs clearance and without specific customs numbers.

 

• Upon receipt of an invitation regarding an item subject to customs clearance, the customer can choose to do customs clearance independently or use the services of a customs broker of Latvijas Pasts for a fee. 

 

• If the customer chooses to clear the item through customs independently, he or she must log in to the SRS Electronic Declaration System (EDS) and fill in and submit the simplified Import Customs Declaration for Postal Items. In this case taxes can be paid by connecting directly to the portal www.Latvija.lv from the EDS.

 

• In order to determine the value of the item when filling in the customs declaration in the EDS in situations where a product is not purchased in the online store, but is a gift, it is possible to contact the Customer Centre of Latvijas Pasts on +371 67008001, +371 27008001 or info@pasts.lv, and the specialists will help you to find out this information: the sender always indicates the value of a gift in the documents accompanying the item.

 

• When choosing the services of a customs broker of Latvijas Pasts, the customer does not initially have to go to the post office: it is possible to immediately send the documents related to the item to the e-mail address pastabrokeris@pasts.lv: these are the proof of purchase, the payment order, the item number and the authorisation (power of attorney) authorising Latvijas Pasts to carry out the necessary customs formalities. The authorisation form is available under the Customs section of the Latvijas Pasts website pasts.lv or the brokers will send it to the customer electronically. The brokers will also find out the value of the item if it is a gift, but if necessary, they will contact the customer for additional or clarifying information. 

 

• Upon completion of the customs clearance procedures, customs brokers of Latvijas Pasts will send information regarding the completion of the customs clearance process and the total amount of taxes and service fees to be paid by the customer to the e-mail address provided by the customer. After receiving this information, the customer must go to the post office, where he or she will be asked to show the original authorisation and pay taxes and service fees, and then the item can be received immediately. 

 

• The customs broker service of Latvijas Pasts for customs clearance of one item for natural persons costs EUR 3.50.

 

Further information on changes in the exchange of postal items with the UK after Brexit and the customs clearance options is available here.

 

Detailed information on the conditions of the taxation procedure for the postal items from the UK and on the customs clearance is available on the website of the State Revenue Service here; phone: +371 67120000. 

 

 

Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with about 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.

 

 

Additional information:

Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications

E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv

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