What is a customs agency?
A customs broker or customs agent is usually required whenever goods are moved commercially between an EU country and a non-EU country. A customs declaration (also known as a customs declaration) must then be submitted. Until 2009, this was mainly done by hand and in some cases also electronically by customs agencies. However, for more than ten years now, it has no longer been possible to submit handwritten customs declarations. This applies to all goods that are imported or exported commercially, in the private sector this is valid if, for example, you import or export goods. introduce a vehicle. In these cases, too, the customs declaration may only be transmitted to the customs office electronically using special software. So that you as a private individual or company do not have to deal with the over 200-page thick
manual for completing the electronic customs declaration
yourself, you can call on the professional help of a customs agency.
This is where we come into play: the customs agency PUREPROGRESS GmbH – your competent provider for all customs clearance issues and, if required, we can also take care of the transportation of your goods. After making an inquiry, you will receive a guaranteed fixed price for the cost of your customs clearance. We offer this for all Swiss border crossings (to and from Germany; Austria; Italy; France).
Inquiry customs agency PUREPROGRESS GmbH
Tasks of a customs agency
Advising the interested party in advance and then the actual customs clearance. We take on all tasks, obligations and risks that may arise during customs clearance for you. We guarantee this through continuous internal and external training of our employees in customs law. The handling of special circumstances / individual cases with the customs office is also trained.
Liability for customs clearance
Also important for you, if an employee makes a mistake, you are not liable, but the employee (a so-called customs declarant). He is personally liable with the submission of a customs declaration. If, for example, they inadvertently provide false information in the declaration, such as a typing error, they can receive a customs fine of hundreds to tens of thousands of Swiss francs or euros and even a prison sentence.
Avoiding errors during customs clearance
One of the core tasks of a customs agency is to provide you, the customer, with the right advice. This point is elementary as some mistakes can be made during customs clearance. You might think that it’s just a matter of filling out forms, but if you consider how complex the customs laws of the respective countries are (e.g. the Union Customs Code of the EU and the Swiss Customs Act) including the respective Free trade agreement and constantly updated regulations, you can imagine how complex customs clearance can be.
A customs declarant who is not properly trained or who lacks the necessary experience can cost you a lot of money by giving the wrong advice. For example, important documents may not have been applied for in time or permits may be missing, resulting in delays in shipping times or the transport having to be completely rescheduled.
Error in export accompanying document
For example, if goods worth more than EUR 1,000 are to be exported from Germany to Switzerland, an export accompanying document must be drawn up. If the value is now over EUR 3,000, the export must be made at the inland customs office by presenting the goods and submitting an electronic declaration. If something like this is not taken into account, it can lead to the truck not receiving export clearance at the border and being sent back to the inland customs office. In the case of special transportation from Hamburg to Switzerland, such a mistake can quickly become expensive.Free trade agreement error
Another example would be not applying the various free trade agreements correctly. Incomplete documents and the incorrect electronic declaration procedure could result in import duties that could have been avoided. In the best case, this can be corrected retrospectively, which usually involves a lot of time and additional costs. In the worst case, however, you as a customer may not even realize it or only when it is too late and thousands of euros or Swiss francs that you could have saved are lost.Incorrect procedure
Another example: when clearing customs for a machine transported from Switzerland to the Czech Republic, the wrong customs procedure was used, resulting in 19% German VAT being charged instead of 0% VAT. However, the Czech customer cannot reclaim the German VAT incurred from his tax office without a German VAT identification number. The damage could amount to tens of thousands of euros.Conclusion
There are many examples like the ones mentioned above. Our task is to avoid such mistakes. We are here to ensure that you get the best possible result. Customs legislation is constantly being amended, which is why our employees receive ongoing training so that they are always up to date and can apply the most suitable and cost-effective customs procedure for you. The correct application of the Union Customs Code and Swiss customs law is the basis for correctly recording data in the customs administration system. Even small mistakes can lead to fatal consequences later on. In addition to the preliminary consultation, the actual work must of course also be done properly. We have already carried out well over 10,000 customs clearances, from customs clearance to the preparation of customs documents.
Costs of a customs agency
Unfortunately, there is no general answer to the cost of customs clearance.
become. Each case in the cross-border movement of goods is individual
to consider. Click here to go directly to our price list where
some processes are listed, these serve as a guide.
If you receive an offer from us, this is a fixed price and it is
you will not incur any further costs. Assuming a customer would like to
Deliver goods to a trade fair in Zurich, after the trade fair the goods are to be
be transported back to Germany from Switzerland. In
Such a case would require a completely different customs procedure.
(ZAVV = customs declaration for temporary admission) is applied
than in the case of a “normal” import of goods for permanent residence
in Switzerland. The effort involved changes accordingly. There are changes
the required forms, import duties are incurred and therefore vary.
the costs for the two different customer cases. The
However, customs clearance costs can be divided into three components,
which must be considered separately in order to calculate the costs of a
customs clearance / customs processing. Depending on the procedure, all
or only individual cost components are incurred:
– Service costs of the customs agent
– Import duties (e.g. VAT and customs duties)
– Security deposits for temporary imports / transit
Service costs (customs agency costs)
Depending on the customs procedure and the quantity of different types of goods in a shipment, customs clearance can vary in complexity. The time required ranges from 30 minutes of work to several hours. The workload is particularly low if the data is already recorded in the software and there are similar processes from the past, i.e. transports that take place again in a slightly modified form. This could be a weekly delivery, for example, where only the invoice number, invoice date and vehicle registration number change. However, clearance is often time-consuming, especially for new customers who have had no previous contact with customs. The various necessary documents must be requested, invoices must be checked for correct declarations of origin, customs procedures and the procedure must be explained clearly. The customer may then have to make several corrections to the invoice.
Import duties
In addition to the service costs, which are made up of various individual cost items, there are usually also import duties for imports. The amount of duty generally depends on the customs procedure. Other factors are the customs tariff number, the weight and type of goods as well as the value of the goods plus the country of origin and the preferential status.
Collateral
In some cases, it may be necessary for you to deposit a security for a temporary import or transit of a country. The reason for this is that the state wants to ensure that no import duties (VAT + customs duties) are evaded if the procedure is not properly completed by exporting the goods within the specified period.
Inquiry customs agency PUREPROGRESS GmbH
