Germany stops duty-unpaid (DDU) postal parcels: who must now ship DDP (November 2026)

If you post orders to buyers in Germany from outside the EU (the UK, the US, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and elsewhere), sending them “duty unpaid” (DDU or DAP, where the buyer pays at the door) is ending in the postal network. Since the end of October 2026 Swiss Post and Australia Post have required the sender to prepay German duty, VAT and fees (DDP) on consumer parcels to Germany, and USPS’s mail manual requires USPS DDP for dutiable items to Germany. German law has not changed: Deutsche Post still collects charges at the door when a parcel arrives unpaid. What changed is what your own postal service will accept. Here is who requires what, with an official source and date for each.

Last verified 13 Nov 2026 · 18 facts

Quick answer

• Swiss Post: prepaid duty (PDDP) is mandatory for all consumer parcels to Germany from 1 November 2026, at any value, with or without IOSS.
• Australia Post: Receiver Pays (DAP) is gone for Germany from 31 October 2026; choose Sender Pays (DDP).
• USPS: USPS DDP is required for dutiable items to Germany by Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International and First-Class Package International (gifts up to €45 excepted).
• Royal Mail: offers PDDP to Germany and had announced no Germany-specific DDU stop when we checked on 13 November 2026.
• Express couriers (DHL Express, UPS, FedEx) are not covered by these postal notices; the buyer can still pay on delivery, plus the courier’s own fee.
• Selling inside the EU? Not affected: there is no customs between EU countries.

Which postal services require DDP to Germany

Checked on 13 Nov 2026. Other postal services may have their own rules; your label software or post office counter shows what is accepted when you buy postage. We have not found an official notice from Deutsche Post or German Customs setting an end date for duty-unpaid postal parcels.

What each postal service says

• Swiss Post: from 1 November 2026, Postal Delivered Duty Paid (PDDP) is mandatory for all consumer (B2C) consignments to Germany, whatever the value and whether or not the sender is registered for IOSS (before, only IOSS consignments). The sender pays the German duty, VAT and fees through Swiss Post’s monthly invoice, plus a PDDP fee of CHF 4.00 per consignment, and needs a business billing relationship.

  Verified Sources: Swiss Post (Post CH Ltd), Swiss Post (Post CH Ltd) · Last verified 13 Nov 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

• Australia Post: from 31 October 2026, Receiver Pays (DAP) is no longer available for parcels to Germany; senders must choose Sender Pays through a Zonos Verified Account (DDP). Its “Sender Pays using your own Tax ID” option (for example an IOSS number) prepays VAT only, not customs duty or other import fees.

  Verified Sources: Australia Post · Last verified 13 Nov 2026 · Effective 31 Oct 2026

• USPS: for mail to Germany, USPS Delivered Duty Paid is required for all dutiable items sent by Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International or First-Class Package International Service. It is not available for items to Helgoland and Büsingen or for items declared as gifts worth up to €45.

  Verified Sources: United States Postal Service (Postal Explorer) · Last verified 13 Nov 2026

• Royal Mail lists Germany among its PDDP destinations for Tracked and Untracked services. Its EU trade insights page (read 13 November 2026) announces no Germany-specific end to DDU, and Royal Mail says gifts go DDU; Click & Drop shows which options are offered when you buy postage.

  Verified Sources: Royal Mail, Royal Mail · Last verified 13 Nov 2026

What Germany itself says

• Deutsche Post’s own help pages (read 13 November 2026) still describe clearing non-EU postal items for the recipient and collecting the import charges plus its €7.50 fee on delivery, and German Customs’ page on the end of the €150 duty exemption sets no rule that senders must prepay. The prepay requirement comes from the sending postal services (Swiss Post, Australia Post and USPS above), so whether you can still post to Germany duty-unpaid depends on your own postal service.

  Verified Sources: Deutsche Post, DHL Paket / Deutsche Post (DHL Privatkundenservice), Generalzolldirektion (German Customs) · Last verified 13 Nov 2026

• Deutsche Post / DHL Paket clears postal items from outside the EU for the recipient in Germany, pays the import charges to customs and collects them on delivery (in cash at the door) or at the branch, plus an 'Auslagepauschale' (outlay fee) of €7.50 including VAT. The €7.50 is not charged when no import charges are due, or when the recipient clears the item at an inland customs office as a registered self-clearer. Canada to Germany duty and VAT

  Verified Sources: DHL Paket / Deutsche Post (DHL Privatkundenservice) · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

So a parcel that does reach Germany unpaid is still delivered against payment: the buyer pays the duty, VAT and €2 fee plus Deutsche Post’s €7.50, or the parcel goes back. With your postal service refusing DDU labels, it simply may not get that far.

What you now prepay on each order

• From 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, a flat customs duty of €3 per item applies to consignments of €150 or less that are declared under IOSS or sent as postal consignments. Normal tariff rates are expected to apply once the EU customs data hub is ready.

  Verified Sources: EUR-Lex, Council of the EU, Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs) · Last verified 20 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Jul 2026

• From 1 November 2026 a Union handling fee of €2 per item (per declaration line, i.e. per distinct tariff line) applies to goods sold in distance sales (B2C e-commerce) to EU consumers from outside the EU, at any value, including over €150. It is in addition to the €3 duty, is not part of the customs value, is paid by the declarant (seller/IOSS holder, carrier or representative), has VAT charged on it, cannot be refunded (even on returns), and does not apply to private gifts. The amount is final: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 was published in the Official Journal (L series) on 21 October 2026. The €2 handling fee explained

  Verified Sources: Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex), Dutch Customs (Douane), Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs), CLECAT (industry association, secondary) · Last verified 23 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

• German import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is 19%, or 7% for goods in Annex 2 of the VAT Act such as printed books and works of art (§ 12 UStG). DHL notes that customs does not collect import VAT of less than €1.00. Canada to Germany duty and VAT

  Verified Sources: Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de), Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de), DHL Paket / Deutsche Post (DHL Privatkundenservice) · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

• For consignments of €150 or less, VAT can be charged at checkout through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), at the buyer's country rate. Marketplaces handle this for sales made through them. Non-EU sellers registering for IOSS themselves generally need an EU-established intermediary. Do I need an IOSS number?

  Verified Sources: European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission · Last verified 20 Oct 2026

Example: one pair of earrings for €40 to Germany, sent by post with no IOSS. You prepay €3 duty, the €2 fee and 19% VAT on the price plus the duty and on the fee, plus any prepaid-duty fee your postal service charges. Run your own order through the calculator with DDP selected, and see the worked tables for UK → Germany, US → Germany and Canada → Germany.

Data your postal service needs for DDP

• From 1 November 2026, product identifiers (PIDs) must be declared to EU customs for every item sold to consumers in distance sales (B2C online orders) in consignments worth up to €150. Declaring them has been voluntary since 1 July 2026; enforcement starts on 1 November. B2B shipments are in principle not concerned. Read our PID guide

  Verified Sources: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 4 Nov 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

• USPS Delivered Duty Paid lets the sender prepay import duties, taxes and fees when buying postage (through a third-party service provider, Zonos). It is available to Germany and the UK for Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International and First-Class Package International Service, at the Post Office counter, on Click-N-Ship or through USPS APIs; USPS charges no fee of its own ($0.00 in the price list effective 4 October 2026), but any vendor fee is passed on. Marketplaces and PC Postage providers may use their own solution instead. US to Germany customs charges

  Verified Sources: United States Postal Service (Postal Explorer), United States Postal Service (Postal Explorer) · Last verified 12 Nov 2026

• With Royal Mail's Postal Delivered Duty Paid (PDDP) service the import VAT and duties are paid at the destination and passed on to the sender, including a handling fee per item. Royal Mail's published account handling fees are 50p for Ireland, £1.00 for the rest of the EU, 50p for the USA, £4.00 for Switzerland and £8.00 for Norway. The €3 duty is not refundable. EU destinations: Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden (Luxembourg and Spain only up to €150; Estonia, Denmark and Slovakia consumer orders only; no PO boxes). Items without the correct data may be delivered duties unpaid or returned. Royal Mail EU customs charges

  Verified Sources: Royal Mail · Last verified 5 Nov 2026

Prepaid duty only works if the customs data is complete: a 6-digit (or longer) HS code and value for each item line, the country of origin, and the product identifiers required from 1 November 2026. Swiss Post warns that if German customs is missing information, PDDP cannot be used and the recipient is contacted and charged extra. How to fill these in: EU product identifiers and finding your HS code.

Couriers and other options

• DHL Express Germany charges a Duty Tax Processing fee of 2% of the duties and taxes, minimum €15, for imports. Other EU countries set their own DHL fees, so for them this figure is only a guide.

  Partly verified Sources: DHL Express Germany · Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · Effective 1 Jan 2026

• Consignments of €150 or less that are neither IOSS nor postal (e.g. courier, buyer pays VAT on import) are outside the €3 regime. Since the duty exemption is gone, they appear to pay the normal tariff rate. Check with your courier.

  Partly verified Sources: EUR-Lex · Last verified 20 Oct 2026

Express couriers can still deliver with the buyer paying, but their fee in Germany (DHL Express: 2% of the charges, at least €15) can cost more than the charges themselves on a small order. For low-value orders prepaying through the post or selling through a marketplace that collects VAT (IOSS) is normally cheaper. More on the choice: DDP vs DAP for Etsy, eBay and Shopify sellers.

Gifts to family in Germany

• Royal Mail says gifts between private individuals worth up to €45 pay no duty, while gifts above €45 pay €3 per HS code plus the €2 handling fee, collected from the recipient on delivery.

  Verified Sources: Royal Mail · Last verified 5 Nov 2026

USPS DDP is not available for items declared as gifts worth up to €45, and Royal Mail sends gifts DDU. Never declare a sale as a gift.

Returns and refused parcels

• Dutch Customs says the fee itself is never refunded: not when delivery fails, not when the buyer refuses or returns the parcel, and not when the declaration was filed in the wrong customs system. Customs calculates it for each declaration (2 shirts, 3 sweaters and 1 hat in one parcel are 3 declaration lines, so €6), and declarants must provide a customs guarantee to cover it.

  Verified Sources: Dutch Customs (Douane) · Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

Checklist for sellers posting to Germany

1. Check your postal service or label software: if it no longer offers duty-unpaid to Germany, switch your Germany shipping to its DDP or PDDP option.
2. Price the €3 duty and €2 fee per item type, 19% VAT and any prepaid-duty fee into your German prices or shipping rate.
3. Keep different product types to a minimum in one parcel: each extra tariff line adds €3 + €2.
4. Have the HS code, origin and product identifiers ready for every listing.
5. Selling on Etsy or eBay? VAT is collected at checkout, but the €3 and €2 still have to be paid by someone: use a label that prepays them.
6. Watch for other EU countries following Germany: we record every change in the change log.

Canada Post

• Canada Post's service list dated 4 November 2026 shows parcel and letter services available again to all 27 EU countries, including Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal. The only destinations it lists as suspended are Belarus, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Yemen. Canada Post EU service status

  Verified Sources: Canada Post, Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · Effective 4 Nov 2026

We have not found a Canada Post notice on prepaid duty for Germany; check the options shown when you buy postage. Status for every EU country: is Canada Post shipping to the EU?

This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Postal services change their terms often; check your own postal service’s current page before shipping. See the disclaimer.

Rules change often: the latest change we tracked was on 12 Nov 2026 (Canada's counter-tariff applies to low-value parcels too). Alerts send one short email, with the source, only when a rule changes on a route you pick.

Estimate a DDP order to Germany Get rule-change alerts