EU ends the €150 duty exemption and starts a €3 parcel duty

Since 1 July 2026, B2C parcels worth up to €150 sent into the EU pay a flat €3 customs duty per item type. The measure runs until July 2028, when normal tariffs take over.

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 removed the customs duty relief for consignments with an intrinsic value of €150 or less. For decades these parcels entered the EU duty-free; the rule had become a route for undervaluation and split shipments.

The interim €3 duty

• Applies from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028.
• Covers distance sales to EU consumers worth €150 or less, in particular parcels declared through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) or sent by post.
• Charged at €3 for each different item type in the parcel, identified by its 6-digit tariff code. A parcel with a T-shirt and a phone case pays €6; a parcel with three T-shirts pays €3.
• The €3 is added to the taxable amount, so VAT is charged on it too.

What does not change

• Import VAT still applies from the first euro at the rate of the customer's country.
• Gifts between private persons up to €45 stay exempt.
• Shipments above €150 already paid the normal tariff and still do.

A separate EU handling fee of about €2 per parcel is under discussion. DutyLens will add it once it is adopted.