site.btaOne Million Leva in Customs Duties and VAT on Imported Disposable Electronic Cigarettes Evaded in 2019-2021

An analysis conducted by the Customs Agency between 2019 and 2021 shows that 1 million leva in customs duties and VAT were evaded on the import of disposable electronic cigarettes to Bulgaria, the Agency reported on Monday.

Such payments are often evaded by declaring an incorrect code, which reduces the amount of customs duty and VAT that should be paid. The analysis was carried out by the Agency's Ex Post Control Directorate, which was reinstated in July 2021.

Products worth 28 million leva in total have been found to be incorrectly categorized at import. Disposable electronic cigarettes account for about half of the total amount of electronic cigarettes and e-liquids imported to Bulgaria.

Based on the analysis, the Agency took action in several directions. Territorial customs directorates started ex post checks of economic operators. They are examining customs declarations which will allow them to collect an additional 977,000 leva in customs duties and VAT. The most checks will be conducted in Sofia, where many shipments arrive by air.

The codes for such products were changed at the national and EU level at the beginning of 2022 to ensure that the correct amounts of duties are collected and to gather more detailed statistical information.

Electronic cigarettes and related products (with or without nicotine) are becoming increasingly popular, the Agency said. The import of rechargeable and disposable e-cigarettes as well as e-liquids has increased considerably. The number of importing companies has grown too (1,300 companies in 2021). The customs value has increased to 47 million leva in 2021 from an aggregate of 7 million leva in the previous two years. The largest volumes of such imports originate from China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.