The new European tax on small parcels comes into force. Pay attention to “heaping”: purchasing different products in the same order can increase the final cost. And more news will arrive from November
The European tax of 3 euros on small parcels under 150 euros purchased outside the European Union, especially those arriving mainly from Chinese platforms, comes into effect from today, July 1st. A measure designed to target low-cost shopping outside the EU, but which risks weighing on consumers’ pockets. The reason? The flat rate duty does not apply to the entire package, but to each individual product based on its customs category. It means that by ordering multiple different items in the same shipment, the 3 euros can turn into 6, 9 or more, depending on how many products are contained in the package. And new measures are coming in the coming months and years.
Until yesterday, parcels with a value of less than 150 euros arriving from non-EU countries were exempt from customs duties. An exemption in force since 1992, which has however favored a real boom in low cost purchases from China in recent years. According to data from the European Commission, they arrived in the Union in 2025 5.9 billion articles in low-value parcels from third countries, approx 16 million shipments per dayover 90% of which from China. Hence the measure approved last December by Ecofin, however rebalance the competition with European companies e strengthen customs controls (over 60% of products checked at customs do not comply with European safety standards). Plus there is the environmental motivation: millions of plastic micro-packagings are difficult to dispose of.
How is the duty on small parcels calculated and what is the risk of cumulation»
What many consumers risk missing is How the tax amount is calculated. The 3 euro duty does not apply to the shipment as a whole, but to each individual customs item declared, i.e. to each different product contained in the package. In fact, each commodity has an international customs code which indicates its nature and composition: if in the same package there are items with different codes, the duty is applied several times.
If, for example, you buy 5 t-shirts in the same order, then the customs classification is the same, and therefore the tax on the package is 3 euros. But if you buy 1 t-shirt and 2 pairs of shoes, then there are two categories, and the tax is 6 euros. If you put 1 t-shirt, 1 pair of shoes and 1 umbrella in your shopping cart online, there are three categories and the duty will be 9 euros. So pay attention to the accumulation: an order with a few but very varied items can cost several times the famous “3 euros”. Furthermore, the duty contributes to the VAT tax base. In Italy, with the ordinary rate of 22%, the 3 euros therefore become 3.66 euros, the 9 euros can exceed 10-11 euros.
Who really pays the tax on small parcels and what changes for those who buy online
On paper, the flat-rate duty is paid by the importer: the e-commerce platform, the seller or the person who organizes the shipment. In practice, however, nothing prevents this cost from being transferred, in whole or in part, to the sales price or shipping costs. The large platforms will decide whether to absorb the cost of the duty so as not to lose customers, pass it on to the final price or delivery costs, or accelerate the opening of warehouses already within the EU borders, to partially bypass the measure on direct shipments from non-European countries. For those who buy online, the practical advice is therefore one: pay close attention to the conditions of sale at the time of check-out, to understand if the duty is already included in the price shown or if it will be added at a later time, perhaps at the time of delivery or customs clearance.
What changes from November and what happens to the Italian tax on small parcels
What comes into force today is a bridge measure, in force until 2028. The European Customs Data Hub should start from that date, a single customs platform that will calculate duties in a “normal” way, based on the real value and origin of the goods, no longer as a flat rate. A 10 euro t-shirt from China, for example, would pay around 1.2 euros in duty (the 12% expected for Chinese clothing) and no longer a fixed 3 euros. But before getting there there is another stop. From November 1, 2026 the handling fee European: 2 euros to cover customs administrative costs. Unlike the 3 euro duty, here it doesn’t matter how many product categories are in the package: you pay once per shipment, period.
And then there is the Italian chapter. The government had foreseen a national tax of 2 euros per package, starting on July 1st, which however would have overlapped with the European one. To avoid two taxes from the same day, in June the Council of Ministers has postponed to 1 October 2026. Brussels has already made it known that, with the arrival of the European handling fee in November 2026, national taxes of the same type will have to disappear. Result: the Italian tax could last a whole month, barring last-minute twists.
