Moldovans spend 15 billion lei on Temu and other online platforms: Finance Minister calls it “unfair competition”
Last year, Moldovans spent approximately 15 billion lei on purchases from foreign online platforms, mainly in China. More than 11.2 million parcels arrived in the Republic of Moldova, many containing products ordered through Temu. The estimates were presented by Finance Minister Victoria Belous ahead of the introduction, on November 1, of a 20% value-added tax (VAT) on parcels arriving from abroad.
"It created unfair competition for those who paid taxes and levies, had employees, and so on," stated Victoria Belous during a show on Pro TV.
The Minister explained that applying VAT to orders from abroad was necessary to ensure a level playing field in the market and to protect domestic merchants who fulfill their tax obligations.
The responsibility for collecting VAT lies with the postal operators who bring the parcels into the Republic of Moldova. They declare the tax to the Customs Service and subsequently transfer it to the state budget.
"It is up to them. They can either charge the VAT rate to the consumer or collect it from the platform. They are free to decide," the Minister said.
The VAT collected on parcels is transferred to the state budget. According to Victoria Belous, these revenues help fund public sector salaries and cover other public expenditures, including pension transfers.
Starting January 1, 2027, a fixed fee of 12 lei will be added to the 20% VAT for every parcel—regardless of its value—to cover the costs incurred by the Customs Service.
Victoria Belous noted that approximately 10,000 parcels arrive in the Republic of Moldova daily; each one must be inspected, declared, and validated before it can be released. Carrying out these procedures requires the involvement of several customs officials. The introduction of VAT was initially scheduled for October 1, but the authorities postponed its implementation by one month at the request of economic operators, who needed time to adapt their IT systems. Consequently, as of November 1, a parcel containing products worth 1,000 lei costs the buyer 1,200 lei, while from January 1, 2027, it will cost 1,212 lei.
In the first few days after the new rules took effect, over 63,000 parcels valued at less than 150 euros were declared, and postal operators have already transferred the collected VAT to the state budget. The authorities estimate that the new taxation system will generate approximately one billion lei annually.
