Latvijas Pasts creates atmuito.pasts.lv, an application for convenient customs clearance of postal items

28.06.2021

In order to offer customers an easier process of customs clearance and receipt of items, which will change significantly from the 1^st of July 2021, as well as to make it more convenient and faster, Latvijas Pasts has created a new digital solution: the application atmuito.pasts.lv. It allows choosing the type of customs clearance in a few steps and clearing postal items received from third countries easily through the intermediary of Latvijas Pasts. According to changes in the European Union (EU) regulations, from now onwards such items will have to be declared to customs and will be subject to value added tax without exception.

As reported before, from the 1^st of July the new taxation system for postal items from third countries will apply to the postal sector throughout the EU, including absolutely all postal operators in Latvia and their customers. Thus, the changes will affect virtually every resident of Latvia who buys goods in third-country online stores or receives items from friends or family living outside the EU.

In preparation for the far-reaching changes that will significantly increase the number of items requiring customs clearance, Latvijas Pasts has already invested around 290,000 euro in the expansion of the capacity of the information technology infrastructure and process administration and introduction of new digital customer service and data exchange systems, including the development of the application atmuito.pasts.lv. The new application can be used by any Latvijas Pasts customer who receives an item from a third country. As before, Latvijas Pasts customers will receive a notification in the form of a mobile text message provided that a correct mobile phone number of the recipient has been indicated, or as a printed notification in the recipient’s mailbox. From the 1^st of July the notification will include a link to the application atmuito.pasts.lv which will be individual for each recipient.

The item link will be unique, and only the customs clearance form corresponding to the specific item depending on the item value will open in the application: for items with a value up to 150 euro without excise goods it will be a VAT calculation from the item value, whereas for items with a value above 150 euro it will include the possibility to attach documents required for declaration (invoice, payment order, etc.).

Opening the link to the application, the recipient of the item will be able to choose how he or she wants to clear the item: either using the services of Latvijas Pasts for a token fee of up to one euro or by himself or herself in the EDS system of the State Revenue Service. The customs clearance service at Latvijas Pasts for items with a value above 150 euro and/or with excise goods will cost 3.99 euro. The application also provides the possibility to opt out of customs clearance of the item for those customers who do not want to receive the specific item.

The unique link for the item requiring customs clearance will be included in both the mobile text message notification and the printed notification, which will have a QR code – by scanning it the recipient of the item will be redirected to the application atmuito.pasts.lv. If the customer does not use a mobile smart device, Latvijas Pasts will offer the opportunity to show the printed notification and item documents at the relevant post office, which will carry out the necessary actions and fill in the information for further customs clearance of the item. Such a service at the post office will cost 3.99 euro.

“Customs clearance of items after the 1^st of July will be a completely new experience for the thousands of Latvijas Pasts customers and millions of recipients of items throughout the European Union who have so far been actively shopping in third-country online stores. Low-value purchases, such as those made in popular Chinese online stores, were commonplace for many customers. Thinking about the ways in which we can make it easier for our customers to adapt to the new reality that envisages clearing even items worth a few eurocents, we have created the application atmuito.pasts.lv. The application is as simple and easy to use as possible, and it will allow everyone both to choose how to clear an item or to get an item cleared through the intermediary of Latvijas Pasts in just a few simple steps,” Mārcis Vilcāns, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas Pasts points out. 

It should be noted that from the 1^st of July the application atmuito.pasts.lv will also operate as an informative platform, summarising the recent developments in customs clearance of postal items, frequently asked questions and answers. The application will be available without downloading on any smart device (mobile phone, computer or tablet) in Latvian, Russian and English. The taxes and customs clearance service fees can be paid in the application atmuito.pasts.lv using a payment card or online banking.

For more information on how to correctly clear postal items through customs see the State Revenue Service website.

Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
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