Customs charges on online shopping from outside the EU in 2026

Since July 2026, parcels from outside the EU worth €150 or less pay €3 duty per item plus VAT. From 1 November a €2 handling fee per item is added.

Goods you buy online from outside the EU, including from Great Britain, are imports. They can be charged VAT, customs duty and other duties before they are delivered. Two EU changes in 2026 have made small parcels dearer.

Parcels worth €150 or less

• From 1 July 2026: customs duty of €3 for each distinct item in the parcel. Items with different tariff codes count separately; several identical items count as one.
• From 1 November 2026: an EU handling fee of €2 per distinct item, charged to the seller or delivery company. They may pass it on to you.
• VAT at the Irish rate for the goods, on the price plus postage, insurance and duty. There has been no VAT exemption for small parcels since 2021.

For a €60 order of three different items with €8 postage, where the seller doesn't collect VAT at checkout:

Couriers and An Post may also charge their own fee for handling customs; Revenue doesn't set it. If the seller uses the EU's Import One Stop Shop (IOSS), you pay VAT at checkout and no more is due on delivery.

Parcels worth more than €150

The €3 charge doesn't apply. Instead, normal customs duty is charged at the rate for the type of goods, on the price plus transport and insurance. VAT goes on top of the total. Revenue's example: jeans worth €100 pay 12% duty and runners worth €150 pay 16.9%.

Alcohol, tobacco and extra duties

Alcohol and tobacco also pay excise duty, whatever their value. Some goods carry anti-dumping or countervailing duty on top of normal duty. These are extra charges the EU puts on goods sold below their normal value or subsidised by the exporting country's government. They can be provisional, for up to nine months, or definitive, normally for five years, and can even be applied retrospectively. The EU's customs tariff database (TARIC) shows whether a product is affected.

Returns

• the €3 duty is not refunded if you change your mind, only if the goods are faulty
• the €2 handling fee is never refunded
• whether VAT is refunded depends on the seller; Revenue doesn't refund consumers directly, so claims go through the courier or postal operator

Is it really from the EU?

A '.ie' web address or prices in euro don't mean the goods are in the EU. Check the terms and conditions or 'about us' page for where the business is and where the goods ship from. Goods already in Ireland or another EU country when you order pay no customs duty.

Work it out

• VAT calculator and VAT 3 return →

Sources

General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.