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The EU’s €3 customs duty on parcels under €150

Since 1 July 2026 the EU charges a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value parcels, once per tariff classification. What it covers, who pays and how it adds up.

By border.bot team, , 2 min read

Topics: de minimis, European Union, duties, VAT

Rules as of 8 October 2026. Customs rules change; check the source at the end before you rely on any detail.

Since 1 July 2026, the EU charges a temporary €3 customs duty on parcels worth up to €150 imported from outside the EU. Before that date, these low-value parcels were exempt from customs duty.

What the rule covers#

The duty applies to low-value parcels sent into the EU from outside it, most of them ecommerce orders. The European Commission lists clothing, toys, electronics and other consumer goods worth up to €150 as examples, and describes the duty as temporary.

Import VAT is a separate charge. It has applied to ecommerce imports of any value since 1 July 2021, collected either at checkout through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) or when the parcel is imported.

€3 per tariff classification, not per item#

The Commission says the duty applies “per item, based on tariff classification and not quantity”. Its examples:

  • 5 T-shirts: €3, because all T-shirts fall under the same tariff classification.
  • 3 T-shirts and a watch: €6, because T-shirts and watches fall under two different tariff classifications.

So an order pays €3 for each distinct tariff classification in it. To know what an order owes, you need the tariff code of every product in it.

Who pays#

The seller or the importer declares and pays the duty as part of the customs process. If you ship DDP, it is part of what you collect at checkout. If you ship DAP, your customer pays it on arrival, usually with a carrier handling fee on top.

A worked example#

A customer in Germany orders a €40 hoodie and a €12 cap from a store outside the EU.

Line Amount
Goods €52
Customs duty: hoodie classification €3
Customs duty: cap classification €3
Import VAT Germany’s VAT rate, charged separately

Customs duty for the order is €6. Import VAT is added on top at the destination country’s rate.

What to do as a seller#

  • Classify each product to its EU tariff code. The free HS code classifier returns the EU Combined Nomenclature code for EU destinations.
  • Count tariff classifications per order, not items, when you estimate the duty.
  • Show the total at checkout if you ship DDP. The landed cost calculator covers EU destinations.

Source#

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