overseas proxy shopping illegal or not？.docVIP

Walking a tightrope – overseas proxy shopping illegal or not? Target magazine: Law and economy Review In September, a former air hostess who purchased beauty products from South Korea and resold them on Taobao, a popular online shopping website in China, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for evading 1,130,000 yuan in customs duties. According to a survey of nearly 30,000 netizens on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, 96% of the netizens who took the survey voted against the judgment, saying that they cannot understand why the punishment is so harsh. Customers and sellers, win-win According to the prediction of the China Bulk Stock Research Center, the volume of overseas proxy shopping in 2012 is expected to reach 48 billion yuan. Furthermore, there are data to show that the monthly volume of Taobao has risen by almost three times since the beginning of overseas proxy shopping service. Suki Yang, a Chinese student from University of Sheffield, is running her overseas proxy shopping business on Taobao and Sina Weibo. “When items go on sale”, she said, “I bought them at a low price and then resold them to customers in China.” For example, a Burberry shirt priced at 1400 yuan (about £139) in China is available to UK customers for £39 in the Burberry Factory Store, which produces high profits for sellers. On the other hand, it’s also good for the domestic customers to buy items which are difficult or impossible to by in local market with less cost. Shanghaiweiya, Chinese famous E-trade writer, said: “In fact, overseas proxy shopping is an integration of resources. Even the same items, some may be cheaper abroad, some may be insufficient at home and some may only be sold overseas…its the power of online shopping.” Legal grey zone According to the China’s new Inbound and outbound personal mailed items management policy, any item’s apply import duty tax at 50 yuan (including 50) above, customs import duties at 50% tax rate. For instance, the dutiable value of a bottle of day