Small parcels from China to the EU: what taxes and fees are due on one order now? in detail

Dear friend,

Welcome! This letter sets out what you need to know, plainly and in order.

The parts of one order

Who pays: the €3 duty and €2 fee are owed by the declarant (seller, importer, IOSS holder or their representative); the Commission says this is not a tax charged to consumers (Commission guidance and legal text).

IOSS: limited to eligible, non-excise goods in consignments up to €150. When IOSS is used validly and declared correctly, VAT is collected at purchase and no further import VAT is charged at import (Commission: VAT exemptions). That does not guarantee there are no duties or other charges on delivery, and holding an IOSS number does not by itself make a shipment compliant. Without IOSS, import VAT is paid at import; who pays depends on the import arrangement and the sales contract.

A worked example

Arithmetic only, not a quote: a €60 order arriving after 1 Nov 2026 in a member state with a 20% standard VAT rate, assuming the declarant confirms 2 taxable items, both subject to the €3 duty and €2 fee:

• Duty: 2 × 3 = *€6.0*
• Handling fee: 2 × 2 = *€4.0*
• VAT: official documents differ on what the taxable amount includes under different arrangements (see Unknowns); ask the declarant to confirm. This page gives no total.
• If the carrier actually charges a service fee, add it.
• Three units of the same product under one commodity code in one consignment usually count as 1 item under guidance section 5.2, so the fixed charges are €3 + €2 = €5; three products under three different codes count as 3 items, €15. Your declarant confirms.

From 1 November 2026, declarations need product identifiers (PID)

Per section 8 of the Commission customs guidance (guidance PDF):

• Product identifiers are required for all goods sold in distance sales; voluntary from 1 July 2026, mandatory from 1 November 2026 (section 8.2).
• Merchant PID (M-PID) and non-standardised manufacturer PID (NS-PID): required in all cases, with no exception (sections 8.4.1, 8.4.2).
• Standardised PID (S-PID), such as a GTIN barcode: only where the product has one (section 8.4.3).
• Some product categories and commodity codes get administrative tolerance (section 8.8); check the guidance for which.

Checklist: for each product you sell, collect your own product code (SKU), the manufacturer's model or code, and any barcode the product carries, and pass them to your declarant or platform together with the description and commodity code.

Returns

• The €2 handling fee is non-refundable (guidance section 7.6).
• The €3 duty can no longer be repaid by invalidating the declaration; only the general refund rules apply (section 7.5).
• Under the special arrangements and standard import, the import VAT on the handling fee is refunded on return (sections 9.2.2, 9.2.3).
• So when costing returns, treat these two charges as lost first, then see whether a refund can be claimed under the rules.

What to do

1. Ask your supplier or forwarder to quote VAT, duty, handling fee and service charges as separate lines.
2. Before shipping, have the declarant confirm how many "items" the declaration contains and whether the €3 duty applies.
3. Ask whether the shipment uses a valid IOSS number; if not, find out who pays import VAT and at what stage.
4. Before 1 Nov 2026, agree who declares and pays the handling fee and whether it will be passed on to you.

When to use a licensed professional

• If one parcel holds several kinds of goods and the item count is unclear, ask a customs professional in the member state of import.
• If you plan to register for IOSS yourself, import commercial quantities, or face double charging, ask a tax adviser who knows EU VAT.

Check before you pay

• Ask any service provider to list duty, handling fee, VAT and service charges per product.
• Claims such as "one fixed tax per parcel", "the €2 is the duty" or "with IOSS there is nothing else to pay" are wrong.

Unknowns

• Official sources differ on the scope of the €3 duty: Commission guidance (non-binding) says it applies to all VAT arrangements; Article 2 of the Regulation refers to goods imported VAT-exempt under IOSS and to postal parcels. We could not open the full Regulation this time, so the difference stays open; guidance does not override the law. Confirm with your declarant; see €3 per item duty.
• How "items" are counted: the Regulation does not define it; this page follows section 5.2 of the Commission guidance (goods in one consignment with the same classification and description count as one item). Origin conditions also apply.
• The VAT taxable amount: the Commission's VAT note says the €3 duty is excluded from the VAT base of the sale under IOSS, and included in the import VAT base under the special arrangements and normal import (VAT note PDF). Official documents conflict on the €2 handling fee: the end of the same note says it is excluded; section 9.2 of the 5 Oct 2026 customs guidance says the opposite (customs guidance PDF); Dutch Customs (22 Oct 2026) also says it is included (Dutch Customs). Rely on a written answer from the destination's tax or customs authority. General import VAT base rules: Commission page.

Sources for this letter

1. European Commission: customs formalities for low value consignments
2. Commission: VAT rates
3. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382
4. EU TARIC consultation
5. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152, official text
6. Commission guidance and legal text
7. Commission: VAT exemptions
8. guidance PDF
9. VAT note PDF
10. Dutch Customs
11. Commission page