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- Payment lesson: they want to charge a fee from the sale of gadgets in the Russian Federation from foreign sellers
Payment lesson: they want to charge a fee from the sale of gadgets in the Russian Federation from foreign sellers
Foreign online sellers of gadgets, along with Russian ones, are planning to charge a fee on their sales in the Russian Federation. The relevant proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Trade by the industry association RATEK. The fee, which is scheduled to be introduced on September 1 (250 rubles for each smartphone and 500 rubles for a laptop), will affect only Russian importers and manufacturers, but it does not affect foreign sellers trading on online platforms in our country. According to the authors of the appeal, this creates competitive advantages for foreigners. How the introduction of the fee will affect the market and whether this may lead to an increase in the cost of such devices is described in the Izvestia article.
Who will have to pay the technology fee
It is advisable to equalize the responsibilities of foreign electronics sellers who sell goods to Russian buyers through online platforms with domestic market participants and extend the technological fee to them (if it is introduced in the Russian Federation). The Association of Manufacturers and Sellers of Electronics and Household Appliances (RATEK) turned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with such a proposal, Izvestia got acquainted with the document.
The draft government decree regulating the procedure for paying the fee applies to Russian importers and manufacturers, but does not oblige foreign sellers to pay it. According to the association, this creates unequal competition conditions, creates a price advantage for foreign suppliers and may encourage domestic companies to enter cross-border trading schemes through foreign online stores. A fee from foreign sellers can be charged at the stage of selling gadgets on our trading platforms or upon importation into the Russian Federation — RATEK suggests working out this scheme.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The technological fee from manufacturers and importers of electronics is planned to be introduced in the Russian Federation from September 1, 2026. It can amount to 250 rubles for each smartphone sold and 500 rubles for a laptop, according to the materials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It is assumed that the fee will be used to finance the development of production of microelectronic components and radio electronics in our country.
Foreign sellers primarily mean Chinese stores and sellers who sell goods through Russian marketplaces, Anton Guskov, a representative of RATEK, explained. According to him, marketplaces set lower commissions for such merchants than for domestic sellers, and they are not required to apply the "Honest Mark" label. Additionally, there are questions related to the legality of the use of trademarks of brands whose products are sold through such channels. At the same time, the technological fee, as follows from the draft government decree, applies only to importers and Russian manufacturers.
— Starting from June 1, it is expected to introduce a System for confirming the waiting for goods (SPOT, a new mechanism for controlling the import of goods into the Russian Federation from the EAEU countries. — Ed.) the connection of which may require additional costs on the part of companies and the state. Against this background, the introduction of another parafiscal payment seems excessive," Anton Guskov pointed out.
How a new payment can affect the cost of gadgets
As noted in "Communication.ON", foreign sellers on electronic platforms already have significant advantages over Russian ones. They often do not pay VAT and duties, and with the advent of additional encumbrances, this advantage for them will increase even more.
— The new fee may affect the retail price. In the current situation, only companies that do not fully operate in white will be able to afford not to shift new costs to the price for the end customer," said a representative of the retailer.
Margins in the electronics segment remain low, and 250 rubles per smartphone add about 1% to the average retail cost, the company said. At the level of an individual product, the amount looks insignificant, but at the scale of the retail network it will significantly affect the profitability of the categories.
In general, the introduction of technological fees will affect the cost of smartphones and tablets, says Timofey Voronin, project manager at Intelligent Analytics, TechNet NTI market expert.
— Considering that this additional cost will enter the supply chain, the price increase will still be noticeable. Especially in the segment of cheap equipment, the target audience of which is very sensitive to price changes," he believes.
According to him, the increase in cost will be less significant than expected against the background of the first news about the introduction of technological fees. In general, we can expect price indexation in the range of 3-4%.
— The collection amounts are relatively small compared to the cost of the devices themselves. But there's not much point in collecting," says Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research.
In 2025, 24.2 million smartphones were sold in the Russian Federation, and with the collection in the intended format, its volume would amount to about 6 billion rubles. At the same time, a significant part of these funds, in his opinion, will be spent on administration and related costs, he believes.
Wildberries&Russ, in turn, does not support RATEK's initiative.
— Cross-border goods are not put into circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation in the classical sense, but are delivered directly to a specific end user. In this regard, the extension of administrative procedures to such supplies, including technological collection mechanisms, seems legally and practically unjustified, they believe.
Recently, retail prices have already shown growth under the influence of both external factors (in particular, the shortage of memory chips in the global market) and internal ones, said Elena Gokanova, CEO of diHouse Ecom. According to her, any additional costs are usually included in the final cost of the product.
— The buyer is looking for the most profitable option for his purchase. If there is no technology fee levied on crossboarding suppliers, they will receive a more privileged position than official companies operating completely legally. We hope that all market players will be provided with the same conditions for doing business," she said.
Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily TelecomDaily, expressed a similar position. He believes that if the fee is introduced, it should apply to all market participants, both Russian and foreign, in order to avoid distorting competition.
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