The €3 customs duty and €2 handling fee on parcels to Ireland: what you pay on online orders from the UK, China and the US in 2026

Oct 22

14 min read

Since 1 July 2026 there is no duty-free threshold for online orders arriving in Ireland from outside the EU. A consumer order worth €150 or less pays a flat customs duty of €3 for each distinct type of item, Irish VAT at 23% on the goods plus postage plus the duty (unless the seller collected VAT at checkout under IOSS), and the carrier's fee, which is €6.95 at An Post. Orders over €150 pay the normal tariff rate instead of the €3. From 1 November 2026 a €2 Union handling fee per item is scheduled to apply to online purchases shipped to consumers from outside the EU, at any value. Parcels dispatched from Northern Ireland or another EU country pay none of this [1][2][3][6].

What you pay on three typical orders

Rates on 22 October 2026: €3 per distinct item up to €150 [1], 23% VAT on goods plus postage plus duty [4][5], An Post's €6.95 fee [6], DHL Express Ireland's 2.5% of customs value with a €14.50 minimum [7], and the 12% clothing rate from Revenue's own worked example (the real rate depends on the TARIC code and the goods' origin) [5]. At Revenue's October customs rates, £34 is about €40, CNY 918 (Chinese yuan) about €120 and $342 about €300 [8].

	A. €40 UK order (hoodie €25, cap €15), posted in the UK and delivered by An Post, seller not on IOSS, postage €8	B. €120 Chinese marketplace order (four different items), IOSS, free shipping	C. €300 US order (jacket and jeans made in China), express courier, nothing prepaid, shipping €40
Value test	€150 or less: €3 regime	€150 or less: €3 regime	Over €150: tariff duty
Customs duty	2 × €3 = €6.00	4 × €3 = €12.00, at checkout or on delivery	12% × (€300 + €40) = €40.80
VAT	23% × (€40 + €8 + €6) = €12.42, collected by An Post	€27.60 at checkout (23% of €120); none on the €3 under IOSS	23% × (€340 + €40.80) = €87.58
Carrier fee	An Post €6.95	None if everything was prepaid; if the €12 is collected on delivery, a carrier fee can be added (€6.95 at An Post)	2.5% × €340 = €8.50, so the €14.50 minimum
Payable before delivery today	€25.37 on €40 (63%)	€0 if prepaid; otherwise €12 plus any carrier fee (€18.95 via An Post)	€142.88 on €300 (48%)
Added from 1 November 2026	2 × €2 = €4 plus VAT = €4.92	4 × €2 = €8 (plus VAT if the seller adds it to your price)	2 × €2 = €4 plus VAT = €4.92
Same goods dispatched from Northern Ireland or another EU country	€0	€0	€0

The €40 UK order costs more at the door than the €120 Chinese one because the platform collected VAT at checkout and the UK seller did not. The US order pays duty on the shipping cost because transport is part of the customs value [5].

Need this done? If a courier shipment is held for customs, our customs team can step in as your own broker: we file the import declaration, fix the value and description problems that stall parcels, and pass the clearance to the courier. See courier and e-commerce customs, WhatsApp 086 846 1240 or email service@cldeclarations.com. We reply the same working day.

The €3 per item: where it comes from and how "item" is counted

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 deleted the customs duty relief for consignments worth €150 or less and replaced it with a temporary €3 duty per item from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, when the EU Customs Data Hub is due to become mandatory for e-commerce [9][10][13]. VAT has had no low-value exemption since 1 July 2021 [11]. In Revenue's import system the €3 is triggered by additional procedure code F53 where VAT is paid at import, and F48 where the seller used IOSS [12].

An item is a distinct product type. Goods sharing the same tariff code and description count once, however many there are, so ten identical phone cases pay €3 and ten different products pay €30. Revenue's examples: a notepad, a pen and a keyring pay €9; five silk t-shirts and three cotton t-shirts pay €6; a box of identical pens pays €3 [1][2]. In practice the duty applies per line of the declaration, whatever the quantity on that line [13], and An Post warns that a retailer may list identical items on separate lines, which adds charges [6].

What else the rules say:

Consumers only. Business-to-business and person-to-person consignments of €150 or less pay duty at the normal tariff rate instead (AIS code 1LV) [2][12].
Everything pays it, including zero-rated and VAT-exempt goods, and alcohol, perfume and tobacco. Alcohol and tobacco also pay excise [2][13].
Checkout or doorstep. If the seller did not add the €3 at checkout, the courier or An Post collects it before delivery. The import date, not the order date, decides [2][6].
Split orders are separate consignments. One order dispatched in separate parcels counts as separate consignments, each paying €3 per item [13].
Origin rarely helps. A UK-made product can get the 0% Trade and Cooperation Agreement rate only on a full H1 declaration that claims the preference, and never where IOSS was used. A parcel cleared on the reduced-data H6 or H7 declarations pays the flat €3, whatever its origin [12][13].
No refund for a change of mind; faulty goods may get duty and VAT back [2][19]. Northern Ireland is outside it [2].

The €2 Union handling fee from 1 November 2026

Article 20 of the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, requires customs to collect a handling fee per item on goods sold in distance sales. A Commission delegated act of 21 September 2026 fixes it at €2. That act applies from the tenth day after it is published in the Official Journal, and the Commission and Revenue both give the start date as 1 November 2026 [3][10][13][15]. Treat 1 November as the scheduled date and check revenue.ie for any change. What is settled [3][13][15][16]:

€2 per distinct item on online purchases shipped from outside the EU to a consumer in Ireland, counted per declaration line like the €3.
No threshold. Orders over €150 pay it too, and unlike the €3 it is not time-limited.
Not on private gifts sent by one private person to another.
Non-refundable, even for faulty or returned goods.
VAT is charged on it where VAT is paid at import. Under IOSS there is no import VAT on the fee, but VAT is due on it if the seller passes it on in your checkout price.
The declarant pays it. Revenue says it is aimed at platforms, marketplaces and businesses rather than at the consumer, but expect to see it at checkout or on the carrier's notice. From the same day, the declarant must give customs product identifiers, assigned by the seller or platform and by the manufacturer, for each item on orders of €150 or less.

VAT: 23% on what, and what IOSS changes

Import VAT is charged at the rate the goods would carry if bought in Ireland: 23% for most things, and 0% for some, such as children's clothing and footwear [4][5][28][29]. The customs value is the price plus transport, including postage, plus insurance; the VAT value is the customs value plus any duty [5].

IOSS lets a seller or marketplace charge Irish VAT at checkout on consignments of €150 or less and pay it through a monthly return, so none is collected at import. Excise goods are excluded, non-EU sellers must appoint an EU intermediary, and a marketplace that facilitates the sale is treated as the seller (the "deemed supplier"). No VAT is charged on the €3 under IOSS [2][11][17].

You can still get a bill after paying VAT at checkout when the consignment was over €150, the seller's IOSS number did not reach the carrier's declaration, the goods are excise goods, or the line on the notice is really the €3 duty, the handling fee or the carrier's charge. Revenue does not issue refunds directly to consumers in any circumstances. If you paid VAT twice, contact the seller or platform that charged it at checkout and the courier or postal operator that collected it at import [2][19].

The carrier's fee and the charge notice

An Post applies a €6.95 customs administration fee, where applicable, on items from outside the EU, and says a €10 charge applies where the sender's electronic data is incomplete. It notifies you by postcard and, if the sender gave your details, by email or SMS. Pay online by card with the customs reference number, in the An Post app or at a post office; you cannot pay by phone. If you have not paid by the pay-by date, the item goes back to the sender [6]. DHL Express Ireland charges 2.5% of the customs value, minimum €14.50, when it advances duties for a receiver it has no business relationship with, such as a private consumer [7]. Other express couriers publish their own Irish fees.

Check the value on the notice against your order confirmation, including the currency. Revenue says administration fees vary and must be checked with the courier or postal operator [2]. If the value, the items or the rate on the declaration is wrong, raise it with the courier or postal operator that handled the import, because it lodged the declaration [19].

From our own files

The courier handover. Much of our courier work starts with tracking that reads "awaiting customs details" or "on hold, handover clearance required". The importer, usually a business, appoints us as its customs broker; we lodge the import declaration from the courier's arrival notice and send the clearance to the courier's handover team. Act quickly: a courier that cannot complete the declaration can return the goods to the sender [20]. Tracking can still read "not approved" after customs has released the goods, until the courier processes the handover.

Why parcels stick. The same faults recur: a missing or wrong value (free-of-charge replacements still need a value, and the transport cost counts too); a description too vague to classify ("accessories", "gift", "parts"); weights that differ between label, packing list and invoice; and an importer name on the airway bill that is not the real buyer. Two invoices with different figures, or a public holiday in the origin country when a correction is needed, each add days.

The kitchen appliance from Australia. A private buyer ordered an appliance worth several hundred euro and assumed a small parcel would slip through. At that value there is no relief: duty at the tariff rate on price plus freight, 23% VAT on top, and the courier's clearance fee, all before delivery, together adding roughly a third to the price.

My parcel is held: what to send

Revenue's advice is to contact the courier, postal operator or seller, who may ask for the order confirmation or invoice and may return the goods to the sender if they cannot complete the declaration [20]. Send this in one message:

The order confirmation or invoice showing the price paid and the currency, with proof of payment.
A plain-English description of each item: what it is, what it is made of, what it is for.
A value for anything free of charge or sent as a replacement, and the shipping cost.
The seller's IOSS number if VAT was charged at checkout.
Your name, Irish address, phone and email exactly as on the parcel label.
For a business: EORI and VAT numbers and, if a broker is stepping in, a signed authorisation [21].
Pay the carrier by its pay-by date [6][18].

Gifts, hampers, second-hand goods and marketplace sales

A gift from a private person outside the EU to a private person in Ireland is free of duty and VAT if its intrinsic value is €45 or less, it is occasional, nothing was paid for it and it is correctly declared. Over €45, VAT is charged on the entire consignment and duty relief covers only items worth up to €45 in total; alcohol, tobacco and perfume are never relieved from VAT or excise [22]. Where a consignment is worth €700 or less, a flat 2.5% customs duty may be applied instead of the tariff rates [23]. Private gifts pay neither the €3 nor the €2, but since 1 July 2026 a private parcel that fails gift relief pays customs duty rather than nothing, even under €150 [3][12]. Goods bought online and shipped by the seller are not gifts, because they are not sent by a private individual [22]. When a business asked us to declare corporate Christmas hampers as gifts, they did not qualify, and the wine in them carried excise payable before release. Revenue's valuation rule, the price paid plus transport, makes no exception for second-hand goods [5], and the Commission's guidance says second-hand and refurbished goods sold online must meet the same product-identifier rule [13].

Food, medicines, plants and cosmetics

Personal consignments of meat, milk or their products are not allowed into Ireland from non-EU countries, including Great Britain, and the restriction covers small parcels sent to private individuals by post or courier, including online orders. The Department of Agriculture lists narrow exempt categories for products in a traveller's personal luggage, such as bread and biscuits, chocolate, pasta without meat, coffee and tea extracts, and liqueurs. Plants, fruit, vegetables, cut flowers, seeds, soil and timber from outside the EU need a phytosanitary certificate, with a few low-risk fruits such as bananas exempt [24]. The HPRA states that the supply of prescription medicines online into and within Ireland is illegal [25]. Goods subject to prohibitions or restrictions, and excise goods, must go on a full H1 declaration at any value, never the reduced-data H7 [13][26]. Seized goods come with a written notice giving the contact details of the customs office to deal with [20].

Scams, and a note for businesses

Revenue never contacts you looking for customs charges and never sends emails or texts asking you to click a link; charges due on delivery are always paid to the courier, postal operator or customs clearance agent. An Post never sends a message containing links about customs charges [2][6][27]. A ".ie" address or euro prices are not proof that a seller, or its goods, are in the EU [2]. "Ships from an EU warehouse" only helps if the goods were cleared into the EU before you bought them: goods sold to you before they go into an EU customs warehouse are still treated as shipped from outside the EU [13].

Any importer may appoint its own customs representative, direct or indirect, with a signed authorisation; the courier's own clearance is only the default [21]. Where a courier's clearance has stalled, we file the import declaration from the courier's arrival notice. If the courier has already lodged one, a second declaration for the same goods would be a duplicate, so the courier must first amend or cancel its own, or process a handover. Revenue may ask regular importers to register for an EORI number [18].

What changes next

Date	Change	Source
1 November 2026 (scheduled)	€2 Union handling fee per item, any value; product identifiers enforced on orders of €150 or less	[3][13][15][16]
1 December 2027	Commission assesses whether the Data Hub will be ready for July 2028; it may propose extending the €3	[13]
1 July 2028	€3 duty ends unless extended; Data Hub mandatory for e-commerce	[10][13]

Frequently asked questions

Why was I charged customs on a parcel worth less than €150? Because the €150 customs duty relief ended on 1 July 2026. A consumer order of €150 or less from outside the EU now pays €3 customs duty for each distinct type of item, plus 23% VAT if the seller did not collect it at checkout, plus the carrier's fee.

What is the €2 handling fee from 1 November 2026? A Union handling fee of €2 per distinct item on online purchases shipped to consumers from outside the EU, scheduled to start on 1 November 2026. It has no value threshold, so orders over €150 pay it too, and it is non-refundable. VAT is charged on it at import; under IOSS, VAT applies only if the seller passes the fee on in your checkout price.

The seller used IOSS. Why did the courier still ask me for money? IOSS only covers VAT. The €3 duty per item is still due and, if the seller did not add it at checkout, the carrier collects it before delivery, sometimes with its own fee. If you paid VAT twice, Revenue will not refund you directly; contact the seller or platform that charged VAT at checkout and the courier or postal operator that collected it at import.

Can I get the €3 back if I return the goods? Not for a change of mind. Revenue says the €3 is non-refundable by customs when goods are returned. Faulty goods may qualify for a refund of duty and VAT, claimed through the platform, seller, courier or postal operator that handled the import, never from Revenue directly.

Do parcels from Northern Ireland pay the €3 duty or the handling fee? No. Goods dispatched from Northern Ireland or another EU country pay no customs duty, €3 charge or handling fee. A parcel sent from Great Britain is an import from outside the EU and does.

Get it cleared

If a courier shipment is on hold, a marketplace programme needs a clearance partner, or your business wants its own broker on parcel imports, our customs team can take it on. WhatsApp or call 086 846 1240 or email service@cldeclarations.com, and we reply the same working day.

Related guides

Sources

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