Do not pay VAT and quickly find customers. 7 life hacks for profitable sale of goods to other countries
Miscellaneous / / December 23, 2021
1. Profitable to carry out certification
A phytosanitary or veterinary certificate confirms the safety of a product and its compliance with quality standards. Without a document, you will not be able to go through customs control. Certification is carried out both in Russia and abroad: the choice of a laboratory depends on the rules of different markets. The procedure costs from a couple of tens of rubles to several million. It all depends on the category of the product - for example, it is especially expensive (just millions of rubles) to certify kosher food.
The good news is that you can save money on paperworkState support. Agroindustrial complex product certification / Russian Export Center up to 90% thanks to government support. The privilege is available for exporters from the agro-industrial complex and industry. Compensatory support: first, certification and supplies abroad are carried out, then the state reimburses part of the costs. The budget for the program for 2021 has already been exhausted, stay tuned for next year so as not to miss out on the benefits.
2. Save on product upgrades
Adjusting the product and documentation in accordance with the requirements of the target market is a common practice: manufacturers need to improve the product so that it is in demand among different buyers. This process is especially often encountered in the radio-electronic, metallurgical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in mechanical engineering.
Modifying a product is expensive and requires research and development. Often it is she who absorbs most of the budget when going for export. State support allows you to compensateState support. R&D and homologation / Russian Export Center up to 70% of expenses, including wages, rent of buildings, equipment maintenance, duties for registration of the results of intellectual activity and even the cost of producing a pilot batch and its testing. The main thing is that the period for which expenses were accumulated should not exceed 36 months and cannot be completed more than a year ago.
3. Recover 80% of logistics costs
This is a life hack for exporters of civilian industrial products, such as automotive or medical technology. With state support, you can compensateState support. Transportation of Industrial Goods / Russian Export Center up to 80% of expenses for fuel, car rental, freight charges and other transport costs for one delivery period. This period is determinedResolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 26, 2017 No. 496 "On state support of Russian civilian industrial organizations in order to reduce the cost of transporting products" government and is usually 12, 24 or 36 months. From 2022, the period will be counted from July 1 of the year of the start of deliveries and ends on June 30 of the year of their completion.
The destination region can be anything. However, support does not apply to all product categories: you can check if your product fits the conditions in the listOrder of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of July 2, 2020 No. N 2095 "On approval of the list of products for the purpose of implementing state support for organizations implementing corporate programs to improve competitiveness" Ministries. But there are support programs not only for civilian industries. Let's say that they can save on logisticsResolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 15, 2017 No. 1104 "On the provision of subsidies from the federal budget to Russian organizations to compensate for part of the cost of transporting agricultural and food products" producers of agricultural products and foodstuffs.
It has become easier to understand the intricacies of export and master foreign sales markets thanks to the digital platform "My export", Created by the Russian Export Center within the framework of the National Project" International Cooperation and Export ". It works on the principle of "one window": you can now learn in detail about all the benefits, measures of state support, guarantees and apply for their receipt in one place.
To access the services, you just need to create a personal account of the entrepreneur on the website. Also in "My export»Collected popular life situations and ways out of them, a list of relevant events for the promotion of goods and other useful materials.
I want to export
4. Get 0% VAT rate
For the export of goods appliesSection 164. Tax rates / Tax Code of the Russian Federation rate 0%. But it must be justified: correctly collect a package of documentsSection 165. The procedure for confirming the right to apply the 0 percent tax rate / Tax Code of the Russian Federation and submit them to the tax office within 180 days from the start date of customs procedures. If you export to the EAEU countries, you will need to receive from your partner a copy of the application for the import of goods and payment of indirect taxes with the marks of the tax authority of his country.
If you have already calculated the tax and you have paid it, there is still a chance to take advantage of the zero rate. Collect the complete set of documents required to justify the preferential rate and submit them to the tax office. The amount will be refunded. However, it will not work to get a zero VAT rate if goods that were previously exported abroad are sold at retail to individuals. For example, through marketplaces.
5. Save money on participation in international exhibitions and business missions
Exhibitions and business missions help advertise products, acquire foreign buyers and establish exports faster. At such events, companies conclude multimillion-dollar deals, get acquainted with long-term partners and gain a foothold in new markets.
You can get to exhibitions or missions without serious costs with the financial support of the Russian Export Center (REC). All you need to do is studyEvents / Russian Export Center list of funded events and fill out an application for your favorite.
Even if there was nothing suitable in the list, you can independently choose an interesting foreign exhibition, take part in it and then partially compensate for the costs, for example, for renting an area and paying for the registration collection. The main condition for obtaining such support is that an export contract must be concluded at the event.
6. Quickly find your first clients abroad
There are two ways to search for foreign clients: passive and active. In the first case, the exporter creates a bilingual site, promotes it in search engines, and uses direct and contextual advertising. That is, it waits for the customer to notice the product himself. With an active search, the exporter is looking for a client: he participates in exhibition and fair events and business missions, conducts direct negotiations, communicates with potential buyers on social networks and on business platforms, makes calls and mailing lists.
In both cases, you can speed up the process with:
- Exporter navigator. This is a free service that allows you to determine a promising country for sale by the name of the product or the TN VED (commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity). In other words, to predict where the product will take root, and where it is better not to offer it.
- REC consulting and support: center offers top-level searchHigh-Level Partner Search / Russian Export Center clients or searchFinding a partner. Find a Buyer / Russian Export Center potential buyers. These services are free if you are looking for clients in countriesForeign representative offices of REC / Russian Export Center REC presence, for example in Germany, Turkey or China. In other cases, the center will help find buyers through its partners, but on a reimbursable basis.
- AccommodationState support. Demonstration and tasting pavilions of the agro-industrial complex / Russian Export Center goods in the REC pavilion. Option for those who export food. The export center takes over the lease of premises, advertising, search for buyers, and the exporter only needs to deal with logistics and import (customs) clearance of goods.
7. Get a loan under special conditions for the production of export goods
Credit supportCredit and guarantee support / Russian Export Center exporters are provided at favorable interest rates and for long periods. You can get a loan for contract costs, purchase of raw materials and materials, payment for contractors, customs costs, repayment of accounts receivable and more.
The loan can be issued both to the exporter himself and to a foreign buyer and his bank. There is also warranty support. It helps to confirm transactions under an export contract even before they are completed, for example, VAT refunds, participation in a tender or competition for an export contract.
There are many services in the list of credit and guarantee support, and you can use several at the same time. But to get them, you need to meet three requirements:
- Have an export contract for the supply of high-tech non-resource non-energy export goods.
- Have a stable financial condition.
- Have experience in passing tax audits on VAT refund operations.
The sale of goods in foreign markets can be an impetus for the financial development of a company. But export has many difficulties and unobvious details, because of which not everyone is ready to take on it. To help promising beginners understand the terms of trade, the program “Export accelerator». It consists of five steps: from identifying possible prospects to financial support of the first deals. During the course of the program, the entrepreneur will receive a theoretical base, material and non-material support, which will allow him to quickly enter the international arena.
Speed up export