Dear Clients and Colleagues,

The Israeli Tax Authority (ITA) published a new directive regarding submitting import declarations for importing returned exported goods (item 810).

In general, the new directive includes stricter provisions regarding imports under item 810 and is due to take effect April 12, 2021.

Classification of the goods as item 810 is possible when importing goods to Israel that were exported within 5 years prior to import (or more with the approval of the Customs Authority). In addition, the use of item 810 classification is possible only when the customs duties were previously paid or the goods were not liable for customs duties.

The goods classified as item 810 must be the same goods that were exported from Israel. Goods classified as item 810 will be exempt from customs, purchase tax and VAT, if they did not undergo any processing abroad and meet certain additional conditions specified in the customs tariff and Customs Authority procedures.

The phrase “the same goods” means that the goods are classified under the same classification at the time of their export and at the time of their return to Israel (4 digits of the HS Classification code), or that the returned goods were part of the goods exported.

To the extent that the goods were processed abroad, import duties will apply only to the value of the processing preformed abroad.

In accordance with the new directive, as of April 12, 2021, it is mandatory to declare the export declaration number when submitting an import declaration for goods classified as item 810. The directive lists several exceptions to this rule, for example: personal import, import of diamonds, and in cases the value of the goods does not exceed US $ 200.

This requirement reverses previous lenience regarding this matter and requires an evaluation with a customs agent. The implementation of the directive will require follow-up on export and import declarations for full compliance with the new directive.

Companies should make sure they are able to comply with the new directive’s requirements. To do so, companies will need to be able to track the path of the goods exported for processing abroad and imported back to Israel. The company will need to be able to track the goods during the import and export process and not only for audit purposes.

It should be noted that the new directive may impede or even prevent the return of goods exported from Israel especially in the cases on importing damaged components of machines exported from Israel and in cases of returning a large quantity of components from a logistical center abroad although the components were exported separately.

For the new directive >> click here

We recommend contacting us if you expect significant difficulties from the implementation of the new directive and we will contact the Customs Authority management on your behalf.
We will be happy assist for any questions and clarifications that may be required.

Herzog Fox & Neeman

Meir Linzen | Managing Partner
Head of Tax Department
linzen@herzoglaw.co.il

Iris Weinberger | Partner
Tax Department
weinbergeri@herzoglaw.co.il

Riki Raz-Azulay | Associate
Tax Department
razazulayr@herzoglaw.co.il