China → Europe
Who imports, and who pays.
One line in a contract decides who declares the goods, who owes the import VAT, who carries the customs risk and when you actually get paid. We help Chinese companies decide that line before it is signed, not after.
The Incoterm is a commercial decision, not a shipping detail
Most of the surprises on a China–Europe shipment are already written into the three letters agreed at quotation. They decide who is named as importer, who files the declaration, who advances the import VAT, who argues with customs about the commodity code, and who absorbs a demurrage bill. Quoting a delivered price to look competitive, without knowing what it commits you to, is the costliest convenience in the trade.
Four questions, in this order
- Who is the importer? Not who pays the freight — who is the declarant on the customs entry, and therefore answerable for the duty, the value and the classification.
- What value and what code? Customs does not necessarily use your invoice figure, and a disputed commodity code changes the rate on every future shipment, not just this one.
- Which VAT regime? Import VAT, deferment, a fiscal representative, a one-stop return for distance sales — each is a different cash-flow shape, and the wrong one locks money up for months.
- When does the money actually arrive? European payment terms, what the law gives you when they are not respected, and what you are left holding if the buyer disputes after delivery.
Where you land in Europe is a tax decision too
Choosing a port and a warehouse looks operational. It is partly fiscal: deferment schemes, bonded and customs warehousing, and the question of whether holding stock or sending someone to sell creates a taxable presence you did not intend. These are answerable in advance. They are expensive to discover afterwards.
We are not a customs broker and not your accountant. We do not file your declarations and we do not sign your returns. We work out the structure, put the right questions to the broker, the forwarder and the tax adviser before the first shipment leaves, and stay in the loop when customs comes back with a question.
What we do on this side.
The Incoterm before the price
Deciding what you are quoting, and what it commits you to, before it is quoted.
Importer, code and value
Who declares, under which commodity code, on what value — and why it matters after the first shipment.
The regime that fits your flow
Import VAT, deferment, fiscal representation or a distance-selling return.
Getting paid, and in which currency
European terms, the currency exposure between quotation and payment, and what to do when a buyer goes quiet.
Questions we get on this.
Who is the importer — us or our European buyer?
Whoever is named as declarant on the customs entry, which follows from the Incoterm you agreed, not from who paid the freight. That one line decides who owes the duty, who argues about the commodity code and the value, and who carries the risk if customs disagrees. It is worth deciding before the quotation, not after.
Does customs use the value on our invoice?
Not necessarily. Customs has its own rules for establishing the value it will tax, and related-party sales, royalties, tooling and freight arrangements can all change the figure it uses. The same applies to classification: a commodity code that is challenged changes the rate on every future shipment, not only the one in front of you.
We sell online to European consumers. Is that the same thing?
No — distance selling to consumers has its own VAT treatment, and a marketplace may itself become the party accountable for the tax. It also brings consumer-facing obligations that a business-to-business shipment does not: price display, the right of withdrawal, the legal guarantee, and the information the listing has to carry.
Does holding stock in Europe create a tax presence?
It can, and so can sending someone to sell. Where you land, whether the goods sit in a customs warehouse before being imported, and what your people actually do while they are there all bear on the answer. These questions have answers in advance; they are expensive to discover afterwards.
Do you file our declarations?
No. We are not a customs broker and not your accountant. We establish the structure, put the right questions to the broker, the forwarder and the tax adviser before the first shipment leaves, and stay in the loop when customs comes back with a question.
Tell us the product, the country of arrival and how you want to be paid. That is enough to say which structure fits and which one would cost you.