Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:
Azerbaijan has tightened the rules for selling the mobile devices produced by Apple, a source in the country's mobile retail market told Trend Oct. 5.
The source said the iPhone smartphones are being sold only in those stores that have permission to do so.
He explained the high price of iPhones in Azerbaijan, as compared to other countries, with a customs duty of 36 percent and an 18-percent VAT, which the suppliers have to pay.
The fight against the illegal imports of mobile devices, as the source noted, has also touched the ordinary consumers, who also have to pay the mentioned duties for the devices they buy outside Azerbaijan for personal use.
The source said an Azerbaijani national arriving in the country from a foreign one, while passing the customs control, will have to provide a check on the goods purchased and a visa that states the period of the person's stay in the country where the phone was purchased.
That person will also need to pay fees (VAT and customs duties).
"Ultimately, buying an iPhone abroad will cost almost the same as in Azerbaijan," said the source.
It also won't be possible to bring an iPhone bypassing customs control, even if the person gets rid of its packaging to conceal that the device was purchased abroad, according to the source.
"The date when a device was activated is checked, and then compared with the period of stay of the citizen [of Azerbaijan] in the country where the device was purchased," he noted. "Accordingly, if it turns out that the iPhone was activated, for example, in the last two or three days, when the person was, say, in Dubai, it will be a proof that the smartphone was purchased in that country, but not in Azerbaijan."
"In this case, the owner of the device will have to pay customs duties and the VAT," said the source.
Edited by CN