Why do I have to pay taxes when I buy things abroad?

The tax you pay when you buy things abroad is called customs duty. Collecting tariffs is one of the ways for the government to increase fiscal revenue. Every country will levy certain taxes according to the types and values of import and export commodities.

Its function is to raise the price of imported goods through taxation, reduce their market competitiveness and reduce the adverse impact on domestic products in the market. Tariff has the function of protecting domestic production.

Extended data:

Economic impact of tariffs:

When a country has a strong economic strength and an advantage in international competition, it often pursues a free trade policy, and tariffs mainly reflect the function of taxation; On the contrary, when a country's economic development is backward and its international competitiveness is not strong, it often pursues a trade protectionist policy. At this time, the protective function of tariff plays an important or even major role.

Imposing tariffs will cause changes in the international and domestic prices of imported goods, thus affecting the adjustment of production, trade and consumption of exporting and importing countries and causing income redistribution. The various effects of tariffs on the economies of importing countries and exporting countries are called the economic effects of tariffs.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia tariff