How the EU €3 low-value parcel customs duty works

The dates and the legal scope

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 applies the temporary amount from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028. Its legal wording specifically covers imports exempt from VAT through IOSS and goods in postal consignments. Commission implementation guidance explains the distance-sale model across IOSS, special arrangements and standard VAT procedures.

This calculator is deliberately narrower than every legally possible customs flow. It supports ordinary commercial online purchases sent from outside the EU and stops when product-specific tariff or declaration work is needed.

• The goods must be outside the EU customs territory when sold.
• The transaction must be a commercial distance sale.
• The consignment’s intrinsic value must not exceed €150.
• Preferential-origin and other complex claims need separate review.

Exactly €150 is included; €150.01 is not

The ceiling uses intrinsic value. For commercial goods, Commission guidance describes this as the price of the goods themselves when sold for export to the EU customs territory. Separately indicated transport and insurance are excluded from that threshold calculation.

Shipping still matters for import VAT. It can be excluded from the €150 scope test while being included in the VAT taxable amount.

What “per item” means

The guidance defines an item as one or more goods in a consignment sharing the relevant tariff classification, description and, when the declaration requires it, origin. That is why five identical T-shirts can produce one €3 amount while a T-shirt and a watch can produce two.

The exact declaration dataset can matter. H1, H6 and H7 declarations use different tariff detail, and customs simplifications can affect how lines are presented. The calculator therefore asks for an informed category count and labels the result as an estimate.

Who pays is not the same as who feels the cost

The main customs debtor is normally the declarant. Depending on the flow, that can involve the IOSS holder, seller, marketplace, special-arrangements holder, carrier or a representative. Consumer self-declaration is described by the Commission as a residual option in the few Member States that provide a free web-based system.

A seller can include or absorb the cost; a marketplace can show it at checkout; a carrier can request payment under its arrangement. The calculator estimates cost exposure, not the identity of the legal debtor in a specific declaration.