COMBATING THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CUSTOMS VALUE OF GOODS

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of combating the understatement of the customs value of goods. the author shows that in Ukraine the problem of understatement of the customs value of goods poses a serious threat to the economic interests of the state. since the customs value serves as the basis for calculating customs payments, it becomes an object for manipulation by many unscrupulous participants in foreign economic activity (hereinafter – FEA) who wish to reduce the legitimate tax burden. It is determined that, according to the statistics of the customs authorities, non-declaration of goods or their unreliable declaration are the most frequent administrative offenses in the field of customs, since budgetary losses of the State are not the only negative consequence of this kind of economic offense. False declaration of the customs value of goods has a detrimental effect on the competitiveness of the country as a whole, thereby undermining the very market principle of fair competition. As a result of declaring goods at low prices in the domestic market of a country, an imbalance is created between cheap imported goods and expensive domestically produced goods.  The article considers the methods of expert assessment of the volume of understatement of customs value and the shortfall in customs payments to the country's budget. Experts' quantitative estimates differ depending on the research methodology they choose. But in general, the experts agree on one thing: the scale of unreliable imports is huge, and the solution to this problem depends on how effectively the state can organize its work. It is noted that today there is no single methodology for assessing the extent of false declaration of goods and their understatement of customs value. The article identifies certain methods for assessing illegal imports used by various government agencies and academia: the method of interviewing experts or expert assessments; the method of "mirror" statistics; the method of studying and analyzing the domestic market and demand. It is concluded that the use of various methods of assessing the volume of unreliable customs value declaration makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of the measures taken by the State to regulate and control foreign trade activities, since the scale of this problem requires the State to take corrective measures to counteract illegal customs duty evasion and to promote the protection of domestic production, thereby creating equal competitive conditions for economic operators.