I am being sent a gift. What documents should be presented to the staff of Lithuania Post?

In the customs declarations CN 22 or CN 23, the majority of postal items arriving from third countries are named as “gifts”. Mostly this is done in order to avoid taxes and duties. According to the Customs’ data, only several percent of all postal items contain gifts. Therefore, upon request of the Customs officials, it is a must to present additional documents even if the postal item is named as a “gift”. The Customs official may require presenting the specifications of a good in order to identify its customs code and calculate duties and taxes on the basis of comparative values. Usually they are higher than the actual market price of the good.
The form which should be filled in if you wish to declare that your goods have no any commercial value is available here. After receipt of your consent, the Customs will/can calculate duties and taxes according to comparative values.
Article 40 of the Law on Value Added Tax of the Republic of Lithuania foresees that import VAT is not chargeable on goods sent in non-commercial postal items of low value (postal items with documents, postal packages or parcels). A postal item is considered to be of low value if the total value is less than EUR 45. A postal item will be treated as non-commercial if all the conditions listed below are satisfied:

1. Receiver of the postal item is a private person.
2. Articles contained in the postal item are clearly intended for personal needs of the addressee or his family members, i.e. neither the quantity of goods nor their character gives grounds to presume that the articles are intended for economic activities.
3. Receiver of the postal item receives it from the sender free of charge.
4. Postal item contains no goods subject to excise duty under the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Excise Duties.
5. Weight of coffee sent in the postal item does not exceed 500 grammes (or 200 grammes of coffee extract or essence), the weight of tea does not exceed 100 grammes (or 40 grammes of tea extract or essence).

Gifts are not subject to any charges if their value does not exceed EUR 45 and they are not subject to excise duties (tobacco products, alcohol drinks, and other goods containing ethyl alcohol). In case the value of gifts exceeds EUR 45 (LTL 155.38), but is not higher than EUR 150, you will have to pay import VAT at 21%. In case the value of gifts exceeds EUR 150, but is not higher than EUR 700, you will have to pay import VAT at 21% and a preferential duty at 2.5%. Before taking a decision with regard to a preferential duty at 2.5%, please make sure whether you will really benefit from transaction. For example, you would like to receive a video camera as a gift for the amount of EUR 300. A regular customs duty applied to such goods is 4.9%. So, you should pay import VAT and a preferential duty at 2.5%. Another example of a gift: a computer for the amount of EUR 500. You would have to pay only VAT at 21% as a regular customs duty levied on computers is 0%.
I am going to receive several postal items. From the number given in the Post’s notice, I do not know which item has been held by the Customs.
Lithuania Post and the Customs avoid opening postal items without necessity. Firstly, we recommend sending postal items by registered mail. Registered postal items have tracking numbers enabling you to track and trace your postal items. Accordingly, after posting the order, the sender should inform you what number has been assigned to your postal item and what goods and invoice pertain to it. It is recommended to have all these documents sent by e-mail as a pdf. file.
Customs clearance procedures would be handled faster if the item’s number would be included into the good’s purchase documents, and each item would be issued a separate purchase document.
The majority of arising misunderstandings are related with non-registered postal items. They do not have identification numbers, which are assigned to registered items. If you do not know which postal item is held at Lithuania Post, you should present those documents, which, in your opinion, belong to that particular postal item. On the basis of information about the sender, weight, and other data, the declarant will identify necessary documents and present them to the Customs.