The EU customs duty now applies to parcels from outside the Union from the very first euro: since 1 July 2026 the EUR 150 duty-free threshold no longer exists. In its place there is a flat rate of EUR 3 – charged not per parcel, but per item of goods inside it. An order containing three different things worth EUR 12 in total costs EUR 9 in duty, not EUR 3.
Below: how items are counted, why the same parcel can cost EUR 3 or EUR 9, who issues the bill to the recipient in the Czech Republic, and which dates are still ahead. The source of every figure is given alongside it.
Koruna figures use a rate of 24 CZK per euro. Customs applies the official monthly exchange rate announced for each calendar month, so the koruna amounts here are an indication, not the exact figure on your bill.
What changed on 1 July 2026
The change affects duty only. Import VAT has been payable all along – there has been no VAT exemption since 1 July 2021. These two are frequently confused, so a line-by-line comparison helps.
| Parameter | Before 1 July 2026 | From 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Duty on parcels up to EUR 150 | none | EUR 3 per item of goods |
| Duty above EUR 150 | standard tariff rates | standard tariff rates (unchanged) |
| Import VAT | 21 %, always payable | 21 %, unchanged |
| Meaning of the EUR 150 threshold | boundary of the duty relief | boundary between the EUR 3 rate and the full tariff |
| Alcohol, perfume, tobacco | excluded from relief, always dutiable | fall under the EUR 3 per item rate |
| Duration of the regime | – | until 1 July 2028 |
Sources for this table: Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200, and guidance published by Celní správa ČR, the Czech customs administration. The European Commission’s Customs Guidance on the EUR 3 customs duty was issued on 2 June 2026.
One detail decides more than it appears to: the duty applies according to the date the goods physically enter the customs territory of the EU, not the date of the order or the payment. An order placed in June but arriving in July falls under the new rules.
Why the EU did this
The first and main argument is volume. Celní správa ČR publishes figures for items of goods in low-value consignments imported into the Czech Republic.
| Period | Items of goods | Growth year on year |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 million | – |
| 2024 | 23 million | ×7.7 |
| 2025 | 105 million | ×4.6 |
| January-April 2026 | 70 million | ahead of last year’s pace |
Data: Celní správa ČR press release of 7 May 2026. At EU level, the Council cites 4.6 billion low-value parcels imported during 2024, 91 % of them from China.
The three remaining arguments put forward by the Council and the Czech customs administration:
- Undervaluation. Declaring a lower value kept a parcel under the EUR 150 threshold and removed the duty altogether.
- Unequal conditions. A seller inside the EU pays duty on raw materials and components at import. A competitor shipping a finished product straight to the buyer paid nothing.
- Product safety. Of more than 20,000 goods inspected, over half failed to meet EU legal requirements, and 84 % of laboratory-tested samples were found to be dangerous. Data from Celní správa ČR.
The last point produced the second requirement taking effect on 1 November 2026 – mandatory product identifiers in the declaration.
The common mistake: EUR 3 is not charged per parcel
The phrase “EUR 3 per parcel” that spread through press coverage is wrong. The rate attaches to the number of items of goods, and it does not depend on how many units there are.
An item of goods means one or more goods sharing the same tariff classification, the same description and the same origin, where those data are required for the declaration in question. Match on all counts and it is one item. Diverge on any one of them and it is two items and EUR 6.
| Parcel contents | Items | Duty | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 identical glasses | 1 | EUR 3 | one code covers all three |
| 3 glasses and a plate | 2 | EUR 6 | glass and plate have different codes |
| Glass, plate, sunglasses | 3 | EUR 9 | three different codes |
| Cotton and polyester T-shirts | 2 | EUR 6 | fabric changes the code, the product type does not |
| 1 silk and 2 wool blouses | 2 | EUR 6 | silk and wool sit in different subheadings |
| 5 identical phone cases | 1 | EUR 3 | the number of units is irrelevant |
| Case, cable, T-shirt | 3 | EUR 9 | a mixed basket is the worst case |
The glasses, plate and T-shirt examples come from official guidance by Česká pošta, the Czech postal operator. The blouse example is an official Council of the EU illustration. The phone case rows were added by us, following the same logic.
Merging goods into a single line to avoid this does not work: the simplification that allowed dissimilar goods to be grouped and charged at the highest applicable rate has been switched off for the EUR 3 duty. The Commission guidance states it directly – grouping of items is not permitted where the temporary rate applies.
The practical conclusion in one line: you pay for the variety of the basket, not for its size. One caveat – “identical” for customs means classified under the same code, not looking alike. Classification is done by the declarant, and a buyer can only predict it approximately, from material and intended use.
The same parcel: EUR 3 or EUR 9 depending on the declaration
The number of items is determined not by the goods themselves but by the level of detail at which they are declared. That level depends on the declaration type.
| Declaration type | Code level | Origin splits items | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7 | 6 digits (HS6) | no | ordinary small parcels from marketplaces |
| H6 | 6 digits (HS6) | no | postal consignments |
| H1 | 10 digits (TARIC) | yes | prohibitions and restrictions, excise goods, preferential rates |
The official example from the Commission guidance shows the difference best. A parcel worth EUR 140 contains three women’s suits: one of man-made fibres, one of wool, one “other”.
| Declaration | How the three suits appear | Items | Duty |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7 or H6 | a single HS6 code – 6104 19 | 1 | EUR 3 |
| H1 | three different TARIC codes | 3 | EUR 9 |
Same goods, same parcel, a bill that differs threefold.
A second official example from the same document adds origin to the picture. A buyer orders bicycle parts under one and the same code 8714 91 10 31: five from China and one from Thailand.
| Goods | Code | Origin | Declaration lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 bicycle parts | 8714 91 10 31 | China | 1 line – EUR 3 |
| 1 bicycle part | 8714 91 10 31 | Thailand | 1 line – EUR 3 |
| Total | EUR 6 | ||
The tariff code matches exactly, but the countries differ – so there are two lines. The five Chinese parts still go on one line, because code and origin are shared.
What this means for the buyer. The declaration type is chosen by the declarant, not by you, and nothing in the checkout affects it. An ordinary marketplace order goes through H7, which is cheaper. If a parcel ends up on the full procedure, the bill rises because of finer classification, not because the carrier decided so.
What it costs in practice
The final sum is not made of duty alone. Two further things shape it: whether the seller is registered under IOSS, and whether the carrier charges for customs declaration. The two are linked directly, and the gap between the scenarios is wider than the duty itself.
Two scenarios: with IOSS and without
IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) is the scheme under which the seller collects VAT at checkout and remits it directly. For the buyer this means VAT is visible in the price breakdown in the basket, and there is nothing to pay on delivery.
The source for each row is given in the last column:
| Parameter | Seller uses IOSS | Seller does not use IOSS | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT 21 % | paid at checkout, import exempt from import VAT | charged at import | EU VAT Directive, IOSS scheme since 01.07.2021 |
| EUR 3 duty per item | applies | applies | Customs Guidance on the EUR 3 customs duty, DG TAXUD |
| VAT charged on the duty | no | yes | import VAT base rules, Česká pošta guidance |
| Declaration fee at Česká pošta | 0 CZK | 150 CZK | Česká pošta price list in force from 01.07.2026, section “Celní deklarace” |
| Added cost on one item | EUR 3 (~72 CZK) | EUR 3 + 150 CZK + VAT on everything | Findugo calculation from the rows above |
One row runs against part of the press coverage: the EUR 3 duty applies identically in both scenarios. Some coverage claimed the opposite: that the flat rate covers IOSS consignments only, with the standard tariff applying outside it. The DG TAXUD guidance puts it differently: the EUR 3 rate applies to all goods in consignments up to EUR 150 sold through distance sales, regardless of the VAT scheme used – IOSS, Special Arrangements or standard VAT – and regardless of the declaration in which the goods are entered.
Large platforms mostly operate through IOSS, so a typical order follows the left-hand column: the addition is exactly EUR 3 per item, with no VAT on top and no declaration fee. Smaller sellers register far less consistently – there the right-hand column applies, and the 150 CZK outweighs the duty itself.
A calculation for a typical order
This is our own calculation, not an extract from a document: the price of the goods including shipping, 21 % VAT (paid at checkout under IOSS), plus EUR 3 for each item of goods. The “before” column is the same order prior to 1 July 2026 – price plus VAT, no duty.
| Goods incl. shipping | Items | Before 01.07.2026 | Now | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR 5 | 1 | EUR 6.05 | EUR 9.05 (~217 CZK) | +50 % |
| EUR 12 | 1 | EUR 14.52 | EUR 17.52 (~420 CZK) | +21 % |
| EUR 12 | 3 | EUR 14.52 | EUR 23.52 (~564 CZK) | +62 % |
| EUR 30 | 2 | EUR 36.30 | EUR 42.30 (~1,015 CZK) | +17 % |
| EUR 60 | 5 | EUR 72.60 | EUR 87.60 (~2,102 CZK) | +21 % |
| EUR 140 | 1 | EUR 169.40 | EUR 172.40 (~4,138 CZK) | +2 % |
| EUR 140 | 6 | EUR 169.40 | EUR 187.40 (~4,498 CZK) | +11 % |
The pattern is in the last column. The duty is a fixed sum, so in percentage terms it hits cheap orders disproportionately: an EUR 5 order rises by half, an EUR 140 single-item order by 2 %. The heaviest impact lands on the cheap multi-item basket – EUR 12 of three different small things rises by 62 %.
The consultancy Moore Czech Republic published a similar calculation in Czech figures: a Temu parcel worth 128 CZK rises to roughly 218 CZK after 1 July, to 308 CZK with two product categories, and to around 400 CZK with three.
VAT is calculated on top of the duty
This concerns the non-IOSS scenario only. Where VAT is paid at import, the duty forms part of its base – and EUR 3 of duty costs the recipient EUR 3.63.
According to Česká pošta guidance, the import VAT base comprises four elements:
- the intrinsic value of the goods;
- shipping to the place of destination;
- the customs duty;
- the customs declaration service, where it is charged.
There is a subtlety here that looks like a contradiction. Customs declaration services are themselves VAT-exempt as a service – the post office adds no tax to them on its invoice. Yet they enter the import VAT base. These are two separate mechanisms, and neither cancels the other.
The same calculation without IOSS, using the rules above. Goods with shipping EUR 20, two items:
| Element | Amount |
|---|---|
| Goods incl. shipping | EUR 20.00 |
| Duty: 2 items × EUR 3 | EUR 6.00 |
| Česká pošta declaration fee, 150 CZK | EUR 6.25 |
| VAT base | EUR 32.25 |
| VAT 21 % | EUR 6.77 |
| Total payable | EUR 39.02 |
Of that EUR 39, the rule change itself added EUR 7.26 – the duty and the VAT on it. The rest existed before 1 July too. But it is on orders like this that the final bill looks most unexpected to the recipient.
Who pays the EU customs duty and how the bill arrives
Formally, the customs debt sits with the declarant. The Commission guidance defines that role as a cascade, read top down to the first applicable option:
- The holder of the IOSS number or its indirect representative.
- Where there is no IOSS – the user of the Special Arrangements or its indirect representative.
- The indirect representative of the importer.
- As a residual option – the consumer.
The fourth step is not available everywhere: a consumer can act as declarant only in Member States that provide citizens with a web-based declaration system at no additional cost and outside IOSS. The Czech Republic is one of them – the customs administration’s eCeP application. Celní správa describes this route as a last-resort option rather than the standard path for a private individual.
In practice the carrier files the declaration: Česká pošta for postal parcels, the courier company for express shipments. The carrier acts as representative, pays the duty and VAT to customs, and passes them on to the recipient together with its own fee. Notification arrives by email, SMS or a letter with a link to a web form.
Without payment the parcel is not released – that is Česká pošta’s own wording. If the recipient declines to cooperate with the clearance, the consignment goes back to the sender. Whether the seller refunds the goods is a matter of its returns policy, not of customs rules.
What Česká pošta charges
The fees appear in the Česká pošta price list for postal and other services in force from 1 July 2026, section “Celní deklarace”. Below are the lines relating to goods for the personal use of a private individual.
| Situation | Fee |
|---|---|
| Goods up to EUR 150 bought with VAT (IOSS) | 0 CZK |
| Goods up to EUR 150 bought without VAT (Special Arrangements) | 150 CZK |
| Gift up to EUR 45 | 200 CZK |
| Gift above EUR 45, goods above EUR 150 | 350 CZK |
| Cleared yourself via eCeP, or cleared by the carrier | the post office charges nothing |
Courier companies set their own fees, and these are generally higher than postal ones. There is no single regulated tariff here – check with the specific carrier.
Sources disagree on who is formally liable
On this question the sources say different things.
| Source | What it states |
|---|---|
| European Commission, consumer guidance | Consumers buying online are not legally liable for paying the duty. In most cases the debtor is the platform as IOSS holder, or another business involved in the sale and transport. |
| DG TAXUD guidance | Responsibility for correct payment rests primarily with the declarant – platforms, sellers, carriers or agents. On the consumer only residually. |
| Lupa.cz, Czech trade publication | Formally the importer, and therefore the payer of the duty during the transitional phase, remains the end consumer. |
| Forbes CZ | Platforms will build the duty into the basket price, and the consumer will not deal with customs matters personally. |
The practical meaning of the disagreement: the EU legal construction and the behaviour of a particular platform in your basket are not the same thing. If the seller has not built the duty into the price, the bill reaches you from the carrier, and arguing with it by quoting general statements gets nowhere. What to check is the checkout of the specific shop.
Recognising platforms as importers for distance sales is a political agreement between the Council and the European Parliament reached in March 2026. Until it is fully operational, the gap between “the business pays on paper” and “the recipient gets the bill in practice” remains.
Calendar: what changes and when
There are five dates in this story and they are easy to confuse. The status column separates rules in force from expectations.
| Date | What happens | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | The EUR 150 duty relief is abolished. The EUR 3 per item rate is introduced. Product identifiers voluntary | in force |
| 1 October 2026 | Deadline for the Commission to assess whether trade diversion is occurring and, if needed, to propose extending the EUR 3 rate to all goods up to EUR 150, beyond distance sales | assessment, no decision |
| 1 November 2026 | Product identifiers in the declaration become mandatory. A handling fee is expected | date fixed, fee amount not set |
| 1 December 2027 | Deadline for assessing readiness of the EU Customs Data Hub. If it is not ready, the Commission may propose extending the temporary duty | assessment, no decision |
| 1 July 2028 | The transitional regime ends. Low-value consignments move to standard tariff rates | set out in the regulation |
Sources: Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, DG TAXUD guidance, Celní správa ČR.
The handling fee: the date exists, the amount does not
Celní správa ČR words the deadline as “no later than 1 November 2026”. The amount of the fee has not been set as at the time of writing. The Czech customs administration does not name it: the figure is determined by the European Commission in a separate delegated act which, in the administration’s wording, is to be set within ten days of publication of the new Union Customs Code.
The figure most often quoted comes from the Commission’s original proposal: around EUR 2 for a parcel sent directly to the consumer, and around EUR 0.50 for goods dispatched from a warehouse inside the EU. That is a proposal, not a rule in force. The Council describes the handling fee as a measure separate from the EUR 3 duty, and the Commission is to review its level every two years. Any specific figure before the act is published is an estimate.
A side effect that is rarely mentioned: once the EU-wide fee starts, Member States must stop charging their own national handling fees – no later than November. The point is to prevent imports drifting towards whichever country charges least.
How to pay less, legally
Saving here is not about circumventing customs. It is about understanding where the EUR 3 comes from and not paying it several times over needlessly. Four approaches, with their limits stated honestly:
| Approach | What it achieves | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Goods already in free circulation in the EU | no duty and no clearance fee | narrower range, higher price, warehouse labels not always reliable |
| Group identical goods | several units of one product count as one item | works only for genuinely identical goods |
| Check for IOSS | removes the 150 CZK and the VAT on duty | outside your control, only the choice of seller |
| Recalculate the benefit | filters out orders that no longer make sense | requires doing the maths on each basket |
Free circulation is not the same as “EU warehouse”
The EUR 3 duty applies to distance sales of goods that, at the moment of supply, are located outside the customs territory of the EU. Goods already released for free circulation within the Union fall outside that construction: they travel to you as a domestic parcel – no individual clearance, no duty, no representation fee.
Here is the caveat almost nobody makes, and it matters. “EU warehouse” and “free circulation” are not synonyms.
| Where the goods physically are | Customs status | EUR 3 duty |
|---|---|---|
| EU warehouse, goods released for free circulation | EU domestic goods | does not apply |
| Customs warehouse in the EU, sold from there | deemed to be in a third country | applies |
| Sold before entering the customs warehouse | distance sale from a third country | applies |
| Shipped directly from China | distance sale | applies |
The table draws on DG TAXUD guidance, which states plainly that a supplier wishing to sell from a warehouse to consumers in the EU must first release the goods for free circulation.
How this looks from the buyer’s side. On most marketplaces the dispatch country is selected through a filter: in the product card it is the “Ship from” block, in search results a dispatch-country filter. A “delivers to the Czech Republic” note is not a substitute – it refers to the destination, not to where the goods leave from. The filter is not a guarantee either: cases occur where goods labelled as European still travel from Asia, and the parcel then goes through ordinary clearance with all the charges.
Group identical goods
Duty follows the number of tariff items, not the number of things. Five identical objects of one category – one item, EUR 3. Five different small things – five items, EUR 15, at the same basket value.
Splitting those different goods across separate parcels saves nothing. Goods sent by the same consignor to the same consignee but ordered and dispatched separately count as separate consignments – even if they arrive on the same day. Three different goods in three parcels still cost EUR 9, only with three representation fees instead of one.
The reverse trick – bundling several people’s orders into one declaration – is blocked by a specific anti-abuse provision: customs may treat such a declaration as a set of separate distance sales and recalculate the debt.
Check for IOSS
After the number of items this is the weightiest factor. IOSS removes the VAT payment on delivery, the 150 CZK declaration fee and the VAT charged on the duty. On an EUR 5 order that is close to a twofold difference.
The sign from the buyer’s side is simple: VAT is visible in the price breakdown at checkout rather than arriving as a bill later. If the basket shows no VAT and the seller is not European, budget for 150 CZK and VAT on receipt.
Recalculate the benefit
A fixed duty breaks the economics of small orders: three euro on an EUR 5 order is half again on top; on an EUR 140 order it is 2 %.
By our calculation from the table above, the threshold below which an order from outside the EU usually stops making sense is roughly EUR 5-10 per item: at those amounts the duty eats the difference against a Czech or European shop. Small items under EUR 5 apiece are almost always better bought locally. Orders from EUR 30-40 with few items retain their point. The middle range has to be worked out per basket. This is an editorial guideline, not a rule from any document.
A separate factor for clothing and footwear orders: duty is not refunded when goods are returned. The simplified invalidation procedure for distance sales has been withdrawn, and the EUR 3 paid cannot be recovered through it, although the general rules on repayment of customs duties continue to apply. If your habit is ordering two sizes and sending one back, you pay duty on both.
Fake SMS about customs charges
Immediately after 1 July 2026, Česká pošta warned about a wave of fraudulent SMS messages about customs payments. The logic is straightforward: a genuine rule change makes a false message plausible – the recipient really is expecting a charge on an order from China, and a sum of 70-160 CZK is too small to raise suspicion. The post office had been recording fake messages claiming a consignment was “in customs proceedings” since 2 April 2026, before the new rules even took effect.
Signs of a fake message:
- The SMS contains a link for immediate payment. This is the main indicator: carriers do not send payment links by SMS.
- The domain in the link does not match the carrier’s official site – often .vip or .top zones and misspellings of the carrier’s name.
- The message manufactures urgency: “the parcel will be returned today”, “final notice”.
- The payment form asks for the card number and CVV. Legitimate customs payments never require a CVV.
How to check the status without following the link: open the carrier’s site manually and enter the consignment number there – for Česká pošta that is the tracking at postaonline.cz and the official mobile app. A customs notification is always visible in tracking. In the Czech Republic a suspicious message can be forwarded free of charge to 7726, where operators verify and block such campaigns. Česká pošta accepts phishing reports at info@cpost.cz.
What this means for a buyer in the Czech Republic
The cheap small order from outside the EU has stopped being cheap. What suffered is not the size of the receipt but the format: single small items and the mixed “a bit of everything” basket.
Four factors determine the final sum, and you control only some of them:
| Factor | Effect on the sum | Can you influence it |
|---|---|---|
| Number of distinct tariff items | EUR 3 for each | yes, through the basket |
| Whether the seller uses IOSS | 150 CZK and VAT on the duty | yes, by choosing the seller – visible at checkout |
| Declaration type (H7 or H1) | up to a threefold difference | no, the declarant decides |
| Free circulation status in the EU | duty applies or does not | partly, via the dispatch filter |
By November 2026 a handling fee of an as-yet-unset amount joins this, along with mandatory product identifiers in the declaration. By October 2026 the Commission may propose widening the duty’s scope. From 1 July 2028 the flat rate gives way to standard tariff rates – dearer for some categories, cheaper for others.
Frequently asked questions
I ordered in June and the parcel arrived in July. Do I pay?
Yes, if the goods physically crossed the EU border on or after 1 July 2026. The decisive date is entry into the customs territory of the EU, not the order or payment date.
The parcel is worth more than EUR 150 – what then?
The EUR 3 per item rate does not apply. Such a parcel goes through the full procedure, with duty calculated at the standard tariff rates for the specific goods: less than EUR 3 for some categories, substantially more for others. VAT at 21 % is charged on top, and Česká pošta charges 350 CZK for clearance.
A gift from a relative outside the EU.
Gift consignments between private individuals worth up to EUR 45 are exempt from both the EUR 3 duty and VAT; Česká pošta charges 200 CZK for clearance. Above EUR 45 the standard tariff rules apply. The relief works only for genuine person-to-person consignments – an online shop order marked “gift” does not qualify.
Are several parcels cheaper than one?
No. Three different goods in one parcel cost EUR 9. The same three goods in three parcels also cost EUR 9, but with three carrier fees instead of one. The gain runs the other way: putting several units of the same product into one parcel.
Does shipping count towards the value?
For the EUR 150 threshold, the intrinsic value of the goods is used, excluding shipping. For the import VAT calculation shipping does count: the base includes the goods, shipping to the destination, the duty and the chargeable declaration service.
I returned the goods – do I get the duty back?
Not through the simplified route. Invalidation of the release-for-free-circulation declaration for distance sales up to EUR 150 on return of the goods is no longer available, and the EUR 3 paid is not refunded through it. The general rules on repayment of customs duties still apply, but that is a separate procedure with its own grounds.
What if I do not collect the parcel and do not pay?
Without payment the consignment is not released and goes back to the sender. Whether the seller refunds the goods is a matter of its returns policy, not of customs rules.
Perfume and alcohol had their own rules, didn’t they?
They did. Alcohol, perfume, eau de toilette and tobacco were previously excluded from the duty relief and were always dutiable. From 1 July 2026 the conditions of the former provision no longer need to be met, and the EUR 3 per item rate covers these goods too. Excise duties and import restrictions remain in place.
Goods from an EU warehouse – definitely no EUR 3 duty?
Only if they have been released for free circulation within the Union. Goods physically located in the EU but held in a customs warehouse and sold from there count as sold from a third country, and the duty applies. What to go by is the actual dispatch country and who the seller is, not the delivery time shown on the product page.
Can I file the declaration myself and avoid paying the carrier?
In the Czech Republic, yes – through the customs administration’s eCeP application; Česká pošta then charges nothing for clearance. It does not remove the duty or the VAT, and it takes noticeably more time and attention than the standard route via the carrier. Celní správa describes it as a last-resort option for a private individual.
