Russia's new customs fees and 22% VAT from 1 January 2026: what it means for your shipments

• Why a Russian tax change lands on your export desk
• Customs clearance fees: the new scale and a before/after table
• The three changes that matter most for your consignments
• Worked examples: how the fee moves for a real shipment
• Import VAT 22%: what stays at 10%
• The pre-declaration window — and why it becomes your deadline
• What your buyer in Russia will now ask you for
• Seven steps for the shipper
• Frequently asked questions
• Expert opinion from iCustoms

With the start of 2026, Russia puts two changes into force that reshape the landed cost of every consignment arriving at its border: a substantial increase in customs clearance fees and a rise in value added tax from 20% to 22%. You do not pay either of them directly — your Russian buyer or its declarant does. But both are calculated from the figures on your invoice, and both change the number your customer compares against your price list.

Two legal acts drive this:

• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1638 of 23.10.2025, which amends the earlier Decree No. 1637 and sets new tariffs for customs operations.
• The tax reform, under which from 1 January 2026 the VAT rate for most goods and services rises to 22%, while the reduced 10% rate is retained for socially significant categories.

Why a Russian tax change lands on your export desk

A customs clearance fee in Russia is a charge for the customs operations performed when goods are released into the country. It is not a duty and not a tax on your margin — it is a flat amount per customs declaration, taken from a progressive scale based on the customs value of the consignment. The higher the value of the shipment, the higher the fee, up to a ceiling above which the rate is fixed.

Until now that ceiling was 30,000 ₽ for consignments above 7 million ₽. From 1 January 2026 the whole structure changes, and the ceiling more than doubles.

Import VAT works differently: it is charged on the customs value of the goods plus the customs duty (where applicable) plus the clearance fee. In other words, every figure you declare on your commercial invoice is multiplied by a rate that is now two percentage points higher.

Neither the fee nor the VAT appears on your invoice — and that is exactly why it becomes your problem. Your buyer sees one number: the total cost of getting your goods onto its warehouse floor. When that number rises without your price changing, the conversation about who absorbs the difference starts on your side of the table. The only lever you control is documents: accurate, complete, and delivered early enough for the declaration to be filed before the goods move.

Customs clearance fees: the new scale and a before/after table

Read the table by consignment, not by contract. The fee is charged per customs declaration, so how you split a contract into shipments — three part-loads or one full container — directly determines how many times the scale is applied.

The three changes that matter most for your consignments

1. The minimum fee rises. For every consignment valued up to 200,000 ₽ the fee goes from 1,067 ₽ to 1,231 ₽. This touches the smallest parcels and sample sendings — relevant if you regularly ship samples and catalogues to distributors, dealers or trade shows in Russia.
2. The upper threshold and the ceiling both move. The value threshold above which the maximum rate applies rises from 7 million to 10 million ₽, but the maximum rate itself grows 2.5 times — from 30,000 ₽ to 73,860 ₽. Full-container and project cargo shipments are the ones that feel it.
3. A special regime for radio-electronics. Goods included in a dedicated List (for example smartphones, laptops, servers, components) are charged the elevated fee of 73,860 ₽ regardless of their value. Previously that flat rate was 30,000 ₽. If you manufacture or distribute electronics and home appliances, this applies even to a small trial shipment.

From 1 January 2026 Russia applies new customs clearance fee rates and a 22% import VAT — both land in the price your Russian buyer compares against your offer

Worked examples: how the fee moves for a real shipment

Example 1: a small consignment

• Situation: a consignment with a customs value of 150,000 ₽.
• 2025: fee = 1,067 ₽.
• 2026: fee = 1,231 ₽.
• Difference: +164 ₽ (about +15%).

Example 2: a machinery shipment

• Situation: equipment and machine tools with a customs value of 8,000,000 ₽.
• 2025: value above 7 million, so fee = 30,000 ₽.
• 2026: value below 10 million, so fee = 49,240 ₽.
• Difference: +19,240 ₽ (+64%).

Example 3: an IT shipment

• Situation: a consignment of laptops with a customs value of 500,000 ₽.
• 2025: fee = 30,000 ₽.
• 2026: as radio-electronics, fee = 73,860 ₽ (fixed rate).
• Difference: +43,860 ₽ (more than double).

The pattern is clear: the heaviest impact falls on electronics and on large consignments. For you, that means two categories of buyer are most likely to come back asking for a price concession, a change of Incoterms, or a different shipment split.

Import VAT 22%: what stays at 10%

VAT is assessed on the customs value plus customs duty (if applicable) plus the clearance fee. From 1 January 2026 any goods imported into Russia are assessed at the new rate. On a customs value of 1,000,000 ₽:

• 2025: VAT = 1,000,000 × 20% = 200,000 ₽.
• 2026: VAT = 1,000,000 × 22% = 220,000 ₽.

The 20,000 ₽ difference is additional working capital your buyer must put up at the border, before it has sold a single unit. That cash-flow point — not the tax itself — is what drives buyers to renegotiate payment terms with suppliers.

Not everything goes up. The reduced 10% VAT rate is retained for socially significant goods:

• Food products (grain, meat, milk, bread, vegetables, fruit and so on) — see customs clearance of food products
• Children's goods (clothing, toys, dairy products)
• Medicines and medical devices

If your product line falls into these categories, the rate stays as it was — but the clearance fee increase still applies to your consignments.

The pre-declaration window — and why it becomes your deadline

There is one legitimate way to lock in the old rate. If a preliminary customs declaration (PTD) is filed in 2025 and the goods physically enter Russia in 2026, VAT is calculated at the old 20% rate. The same rule applied in 2019 during the transition from 18% to 20%.

Here is why this is your problem and not only your buyer's: a preliminary declaration cannot be filed on a promise. It requires the final commercial documents — invoice, packing list, contract details, HS codes, country of origin, quantities and packing marks — in the declarant's hands weeks before the goods reach the border. If your documents arrive late, or if the loaded shipment differs from what was declared, the buyer loses the 20% rate or the declaration has to be amended at the border.

Practically: for any shipment your buyer plans to import in early 2026, your paperwork has to be final in December 2025, not in the week of loading.

What your buyer in Russia will now ask you for

Expect these requests to arrive, and prepare the answers before they do:

• Final documents earlier than usual. Signed invoice, packing list and contract annexes, so a preliminary declaration can be filed ahead of departure.
• An HS code you can defend. The code determines the duty, the VAT rate and whether the goods fall under the radio-electronics List. A code you supplied casually becomes a customs valuation dispute at the border.
• Confirmation of whether your product is on the radio-electronics List. Technical specifications and a datasheet are usually enough to establish this.
• Certificates and declarations of conformity. EAC conformity documents, test reports, and product markings — missing paperwork stops the goods regardless of any tax rate. See certification.
• Consistency between documents and cargo. Quantities, net and gross weights, packing marks and serial numbers on the paperwork must match what is physically in the container.
• A conversation about Incoterms. Under DDP terms the increase lands on you or your agent; under FCA, CIF or DAP it lands on the buyer. Both sides now have a reason to reopen that clause.

Seven steps for the shipper

1. Ask each Russian and CIS customer for its planned import dates for the first quarter of 2026, and whether it intends to file a preliminary declaration.
2. Freeze your commercial documents for those shipments in December 2025 — invoice, packing list, contract annexes, certificates of origin.
3. Verify your HS codes against the goods actually being shipped, not against last year's order.
4. Check whether your product falls under the radio-electronics List; if it does, tell the buyer, because the fee is fixed at 73,860 ₽ per declaration whatever the value.
5. Review your consignment split. Since the fee applies per declaration, the number of shipments you make is now a cost variable for your buyer — agree the split before booking.
6. Confirm certification status well ahead of loading — a compliance gap causes a longer border delay than any tax change.
7. Build the transit time into the plan: sea freight, rail, road groupage and air freight have very different lead times, and the declaration date has to line up with the arrival date.

Frequently asked questions

Do I, as the supplier, pay these fees?
Not directly. The clearance fee and import VAT are paid at the Russian border by the importer of record or its declarant. Under DDP terms, however, the seller is the one arranging and funding clearance — so the increase is yours.

Does the fee depend on weight, volume or the number of items?
No. It is based on the customs value of the consignment and is charged per customs declaration. Two half-loads pay two fees; one consolidated load pays one.

My goods are electronic components. Does the flat 73,860 ₽ fee apply?
It applies if the goods are included in the dedicated List (smartphones, laptops, servers, components and similar). The determining factor is the classification, not the invoice value — even a small consignment attracts the full amount. We check this against your specifications as part of customs clearance.

My goods left the factory in 2025 but arrive in 2026. Which VAT rate applies?
The date of shipment from your side does not decide it. What matters is the declaration: if a preliminary declaration was filed in 2025 and the goods physically enter in 2026, the old 20% rate applies. Otherwise it is 22%.

Are food products and medicines affected?
The reduced 10% VAT rate is retained for these categories. The clearance fee increase still applies to the consignment.

What is the real risk of a border delay here?
The rate change itself does not delay anything. Delays come from the second-order effects: declarations filed in a rush at the end of the year, HS codes disputed because they were supplied without documentation, and physical cargo that does not match a preliminary declaration filed weeks earlier.

Market commentary

Analysts have already weighed in on what these changes mean.

• Ekaterina Petrova, customs legislation analyst: «The increase in fees, particularly for radio-electronics, is a clear signal from the state about the need for import substitution in the high-technology sector. For business this means actively looking for local suppliers or reconsidering supply chains. In the long term this may be a positive factor for the development of domestic production, but in the short term it will create serious financial difficulties for many companies».
• Dmitry Sokolov, head of logistics at a large retail chain: «We have already begun revising our procurement strategies. For goods with a high import share, especially electronics, we will be forced either to raise prices for the end consumer or to reduce our margin. We are also actively using the preliminary declaration mechanism to minimise losses in the first quarter of 2026».
• Alexey Ivanov, economist, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences: «Raising VAT and customs fees is a classic instrument for replenishing the budget. However, against a background of weak economic growth and high inflation, this may lead to further price increases and a decline in the purchasing power of the population. The state should be prepared for a possible fall in import volumes and rising prices».

For an exporter, the operative line in all three is the same: your Russian customers are re-running their landed-cost models right now, and the suppliers who make that easy — clean documents, defensible codes, predictable dates — are the ones whose volumes survive the recalculation.

My view:

«For a supplier outside Russia it is tempting to file this under 'my customer's problem'. In my experience that is exactly the assumption that costs suppliers volume. The fee and the VAT are paid at our border, but they are calculated from your invoice, your HS code and your packing list — and when they rise, the first request your buyer makes is to you.

The single most useful thing you can do is unremarkable: send final documents early. The preliminary declaration is the one mechanism that freezes the old 20% rate for goods arriving in 2026, and it cannot be filed without complete paperwork from the shipper. Every year we watch consignments miss that window not because of a legal obstacle, but because an invoice was still being amended in the last week of December.

The second thing is the classification. Decide now, with documentation in hand, whether your product falls under the radio-electronics List — because 73,860 ₽ on a small trial shipment changes the economics of a pilot order entirely, and neither you nor your buyer wants to discover that at the border.

We work with foreign manufacturers and suppliers on exactly this: checking documents before departure, confirming codes and certification requirements, and calculating the full landed cost so your customer sees a number it can plan against. Send us the specification and the draft invoice — we will tell you what is missing while there is still time to fix it.»

You can submit a request on our website, or start from our full range of logistics and customs clearance services.

Send us your invoice, packing list and HS codes before the goods leave your warehouse — we will check them against Russian clearance requirements and calculate the 2026 fees and VAT for your consignment.

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