In domestic economic literature, such a concept as tolling is often used. This word has English roots and comes from the term toll. According to one of the literal translations, it means "duty". Tolling is a concept that is used to refer to operations related to the processing of tolling materials provided by foreign enterprises. Materials are imported duty free to the territory of the Russian Federation. In relation to such raw materials, a customs processing regime applies. Let us consider in more detail what constitutes tolling.
General information
In foreign countries, a tolling agreement , a sample of which is filled in according to the rules of supply and processing contracts, has been used for a long time. This term refers to operations on passive and active processing of materials. Work is carried out with material resources provided by a foreign customer. Operations are performed in the processing state and are active for it (force tolling). In turn, they are passive for the customer.
Specificity
The key feature that defines the tolling agreement is the circumstance according to which raw materials purchased on the territory of the processing state or imported into it are transferred under the corresponding customs regime. This criterion serves as the basis for generating statistics on transactions.
Tolling of Russia: features
In the Russian Federation, two processing modes are provided. It can be carried out in the customs territory or under the control of the FCS. The difference between them is as follows. At customs control, no duties, VAT and special tax are levied. If another mode is used, then the entity needs to make security payments. Their value is equal to customs import taxes and duties. In the case of export, according to the rules of the export regime, of processing facilities outside the control territory, these contributions will be returned. The above provisions apply to external operations. Meanwhile, internal tolling is also practiced. It represents the processing of raw materials purchased from a domestic manufacturer in the Russian Federation. This activity is regulated by special government decrees, as well as instructions from the State Customs Committee. It is allowed only for certain economic sectors.
Areas of distribution
As practice shows, tolling is most popular in the aluminum industry. According to experts, this is due to the fact that about 80% of the raw materials that this industry provides are exported. At the same time, about 70% of this volume goes abroad according to tolling schemes. Along with this, such operations are common in other areas of the economy. For example, in metallurgy. Tolling schemes are used for refining silver, gold, nickel, copper, cobalt. They are also used in light, aviation, electronic industries and other economic fields. Operations can be carried out by individual entrepreneurs and legal entities (JSC, LLC). Tolling today is common in many countries of the world. The use of schemes became relevant at a time when, in parallel with the creation of organizational, industrial and technical prerequisites, the problem of the ratio of costs of work in different countries arose. In accordance with this, enterprises began to pay more attention to the conditions for choosing the place of creation of products.
Background
The main reasons why tolling is used is:
- The desire of enterprises of industrially developed states to find an opportunity to reduce the cost of production due to the production process or its individual operations in countries whose costs for workers are much lower.
- Lack of necessary capacities or technologies for product development, accompanied by a shortage of funds for the purchase of equipment abroad.
These motivations drive customers who supply raw materials. As for processors, they enter tolling schemes for the following reasons:
- The need to ensure full utilization of available capacities.
- Lack of working capital for the purchase of raw materials, the presence of debts, inaccessibility of credit funds.
System development
One of the first countries that felt the need to use tolling was the United States. An example of America was followed by Germany. In the early 70's. of the last century in this country, the number of orders placed abroad has significantly increased. Subsequently, due to the widespread opening and expansion of global trading floors during the general economic recovery since 1983, tolling schemes have spread to almost all states. Relatively large growth in operations was observed in Central and North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. The creation of cheap transport capacities had a certain impact on this. In the early 90s, the use of tolling schemes received a new impetus. This was due to different circumstances. First of all, it was influenced by the opening of borders with the countries of Eastern Europe, the formation of an integration association between Mexico, the USA and Canada (NAFTA), economic expansion into the countries of Southeast Asia. In addition, wage growth began in highly developed countries. Due to economic and political changes in the countries of Eastern Europe, not only increased the volume of international processing, but also there was a territorial movement of orders.
Capacity utilization and profit
The value of tolling schemes for countries in which labor costs account for a small fraction of the cost is evident in the number of jobs. In developing countries, the unemployment rate is quite high. Moreover, according to experts, it will continue to increase. It follows that developing countries will create special conditions for foreign customers. As the studies showed, due to tolling schemes, young untrained female employees with a minimum level of education are involved. This category is considered preferable because it is distinguished by the desire to work, high discipline and productivity in the implementation of simple tasks, modest requests for salary.
Integration into the state of processing
The use of tolling schemes is often accompanied by direct investment. Enterprises are created in the processing country to carry out the necessary operations. At the same time, the customer state becomes a source of new technologies. This, in turn, has a beneficial effect on the development of the processing country, and ensures the involvement of the unemployed population in work.
Competition
Currently, quite a few countries are solving the problem of unemployment by attracting other states as customers. As a result, quite fierce competition is created. Customers, in turn, when choosing a state-processor, conduct a comparative study of the level of salary and the conditions of enterprises. Some countries are developing framework rules for attracting foreign investors. An example is the southeastern states of ASEAN. It is worth saying that competition for receiving orders also exists between enterprises located in the same country.
Additionally
Another effect of tolling operations on states with low salary costs should be noted. Such transactions have a positive effect on the balance of payments of countries, as they reduce the foreign exchange and investment deficits. Another beneficial effect is the influx of foreign funds to create new jobs. If the processing order is transferred to a subsidiary opened abroad, the parent company will be able to influence the amount of income at the expense of prices at which recalculation is carried out.
Conclusion
Fulfillment of orders under tolling schemes, therefore, has a positive effect on states with low salary costs. It provides full capacity utilization, raising additional funds to developing countries. Tolling can be one of the most important steps to solve the problems with unemployment and align economic interactions with industrial states. However, according to experts, the use of these schemes should be carried out in conjunction with other economic measures.