Deputy Panesh to send appeal to Ministry of Industry and Trade over additional recycling fee charges to owners of cars imported through the EAEU

Appeal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade

Deputy Panesh intends to send an appeal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade over a situation in which owners of cars previously imported through EAEU countries are receiving demands from the Federal Customs Service to pay additional recycling fees. According to him, a person may have bought a car, registered it and used it for several years, only to then face a demand due to violations committed during the original import. This is reported by Life.ru.

Who is affected by the checks

Customs authorities may detect incomplete payment of the recycling fee within three years from the date of a car's import, so in 2026 the checks may also cover cars imported since 2023. One reason for additional charges may be the unlawful application of the reduced coefficient intended for cars imported by individuals for personal use — for example, if the circumstances of the import and subsequent sale indicate a commercial nature of the transaction. For cars cleared in EAEU states, a separate rule has been in effect since April 1, 2024: when calculating the recycling fee, the difference between the customs payments actually paid abroad and the amount that would have been paid when clearing in Russia is taken into account.

What an owner should do and what the deputy proposes

After receiving a payment demand, up to 20 calendar days are allowed; if the debt is not paid, customs may go to court. At the same time, receiving a demand does not yet mean that the current owner is obliged to pay: the Supreme Court previously indicated that the possibility of collecting payment from a buyer is linked, among other things, to whether he knew or should have known about the original payer's failure to fulfill the obligation. Owners are advised to check the VIN, the date and the import scheme, find out who the original importer and payer was, and also gather the purchase agreement, the electronic PTS and customs documents. Panesh proposes introducing a moratorium on collecting additional charges from end buyers who were unaware of the importer's violations, creating a unified register of cars with confirmed full payment of the recycling fee for verification before purchase, obliging the Federal Customs Service to disclose statistics on additional charges — the number of demands, their total amount, and the number of appealed and overturned decisions — and providing installment or deferral options for those who are genuinely obliged to pay extra. The appeal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade is, for now, a declared initiative rather than an adopted measure: the listed proposals still have to be implemented.