Thailand to UK customs charges: import duty, VAT and the £135 rule (2026)
Selling Thai silk, celadon, Benjarong porcelain, silver, rattan baskets, elephant pants or skin care from Thailand to UK buyers on Etsy, eBay or your own shop, or buying them? For parcels of £135 or less there is no UK customs duty today, and the 20% VAT is charged at checkout by the marketplace or the seller. Above £135 the buyer pays 20% import VAT plus the normal UK duty, because there is no UK–Thailand trade agreement: 12% on cotton T-shirts, trousers and porcelain, 8% on silk scarves, 2% on silver jewellery, leather bags and rattan baskets, 0% on skin care, soap and candles. Every rule below has an official source and date.
Calculate your own order for Thailand → UK
Quick answer
- £135 or less, not a gift: no customs duty; VAT is in the price the buyer paid. No bill from Royal Mail or the courier is expected.
- Over £135: the normal UK duty for the product plus 20% VAT on the price plus duty, plus the carrier's fee. Thai origin does not lower the duty.
- Duty-free products: skin care, soap, candles, black tea and toys are 0% duty, so above £135 the buyer pays VAT only.
- Gifts from family or friends in Thailand: no VAT up to £39.
Orders of £135 or less
For consignments worth £135 or less (goods value, excluding transport if shown separately), the overseas seller must charge UK VAT at the point of sale and register for UK VAT. If the sale goes through an online marketplace, the marketplace does this instead. No import VAT is charged at the border. UK £135 VAT rule for overseas sellers
When goods outside the UK in a consignment of £135 or less are sold through an online marketplace to a customer in Great Britain, the marketplace is liable for the UK VAT and charges it at the point of sale. Marketplaces are also liable for VAT on goods of any value that are already in the UK when an overseas business sells them through the marketplace.
The £135 limit applies to the value of the whole consignment, not to each item. The value is the price of the goods, without transport or insurance (unless included in the price and not shown separately on the invoice) and without other identifiable taxes and charges. Unless items are sent individually, add their values together. If you change the value so that the consignment goes above £135, you may owe import VAT and customs duty instead and have to adjust the VAT you already accounted for.
Non-excise goods worth £135 or less pay no UK customs duty. Above £135, duty depends on the type of goods and where they come from, and is charged on the price plus postage, packaging and insurance. VAT paid to the delivery company is charged on the goods, postage, packaging, insurance and any duty.
Example: a £40.00 Thai silk scarf sent by post to a buyer in Great Britain.
| Where it was bought | UK VAT 20% | Customs duty | Pay at the door | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bought on eBay, Amazon, Etsy or another marketplace | £8.00 (in the price) | £0.00 | £0.00 | Open in calculator |
| Bought from a Thai shop's own website (seller registered for UK VAT) | £8.00 (in the price) | £0.00 | £0.00 | Open in calculator |
The £135 limit is for the whole order in one parcel, not each item. If a seller has not charged UK VAT, check the bill from the delivery company before you pay it.
Orders above £135: duty and VAT
Above £135, normal import VAT and customs duty apply at the border, paid by the buyer (DDU) or prepaid by the seller (DDP).
UK standard VAT rate is 20%, with a 5% reduced rate and 0% for e.g. most children's clothes and books.
Goods made in Thailand get no UK tariff preference on any sample line we checked, so the normal UK rate applies above £135, for example: cotton T-shirts, women's cotton trousers and porcelain tableware 12%, silk scarves 8%, base-metal fashion jewellery 4%, stoneware tableware 4%, leather or textile handbags, rattan baskets and silver jewellery 2%, and 0% for skin care, toilet soap, candles, black tea and toys. No UK anti-dumping or countervailing duty applies to Thai goods on these lines.
Example: one item worth £200.00 made in Thailand, sent by courier to Great Britain, with the buyer paying on delivery (DDU). VAT is 20% on the price plus duty. The courier's own fee is extra.
Codes and rates from the UK Trade Tariff (HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Business and Trade (UK Trade Tariff), checked 3 Nov 2026, origin Thailand). Duty and VAT are worked out on the item price only, as if shipping were free; in practice they are charged on the price plus postage, packaging and insurance. Your product may have a different code and rate (for example a scarf of silk blend, a plastic-sheeting bag at 8%, or wood carvings, whose rate depends on the wood): check it in our HS code lookup links.
Is there a UK–Thailand trade deal?
There is no UK–Thailand free trade agreement: on 20 April 2026 the UK government said it had not started any FTA negotiations with Thailand. The 2024 UK–Thailand Enhanced Trade Partnership does not cut customs duty, so no origin declaration is needed or helps.
Goods made in the UK's trade-deal partners can come in at 0% (see Korea → UK or Japan → UK); goods made in Thailand cannot today. We will update this page and the change log if that changes.
Coming change: duty on parcels under £135
The UK will remove the customs duty relief for consignments of £135 or less, so these parcels will pay normal customs duty. The change starts on a day set by HM Treasury, by October 2028 at the latest (brought forward from March 2029 on 23 June 2026). Until then, the relief still applies.
Paying the bill, gifts and refunds
If you have to pay VAT, duty or charges on a parcel from abroad, Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier sends you a bill stating exactly which fees to pay. They normally hold the parcel for about 3 weeks; if the bill is not paid by then, the parcel goes back to the sender.
When the buyer pays on delivery, Royal Mail charges an £8 handling fee and Parcelforce £12 (£25 for goods over £900). Couriers charge their own fees.
No VAT is charged on gifts worth £39 or less. A gift must be described as a gift on the customs form, be for a birthday, anniversary or other occasion, be sent between individuals (not companies) and be for personal use. Gifts over £39 sent by someone else pay VAT to the delivery company. Several gifts in one parcel each get the allowance if they are for different people, listed with their own values and wrapped individually. China to UK customs charges
To reclaim VAT or customs duty after returning goods or being charged too much, use form BOR 286 if Royal Mail or Parcelforce delivered the parcel, or form C285 for any other courier or freight company.
For sellers in Thailand shipping to UK buyers
There is no turnover threshold for overseas sellers: you must register for UK VAT, whatever your turnover, if you and your business are based outside the UK and you supply any goods or services to the UK (or expect to in the next 30 days). The £90,000 threshold applies to UK-based businesses. An overseas business that still supplies the UK cannot ask to cancel its registration just because its turnover falls below £88,000.
B2B sales to a UK VAT-registered customer who gives their VAT number use the reverse charge, so the seller does not charge VAT.
Etsy's international shipping help page lists DHL, FedEx, UPS and YunExpress as commonly used DDP carriers for sellers in Thailand. It lists no recommended third-party shipping service and does not list Thailand Post.
- Selling on eBay, Amazon or Etsy? The marketplace charges UK VAT on orders of £135 or less. Selling on your own website? You need a UK VAT registration to charge it: see the UK £135 VAT rule for overseas sellers.
- For orders above £135, decide who pays VAT and duty: the buyer on delivery (DDU), or you, built into your price (DDP). See DDP vs DAP.
- Use a precise description ("100% silk scarf", "celadon stoneware bowl", "sterling silver earrings"), the UK commodity code and "Country of origin: Thailand" on every customs form: see how to fill in CN22 and CN23.
- Country of origin is where the item was made. Goods made in another country and sold from Thailand pay that country's UK rates.
สรุปภาษาไทย
- พัสดุไปสหราชอาณาจักร (บริเตนใหญ่) มูลค่าไม่เกิน 135 ปอนด์: ปัจจุบันไม่มีอากรขาเข้า ภาษีมูลค่าเพิ่ม (VAT) 20% เก็บตอนชำระเงินโดยมาร์เก็ตเพลส (Etsy, eBay, Amazon) หรือผู้ขายที่จดทะเบียน VAT สหราชอาณาจักร
- มูลค่าเกิน 135 ปอนด์: ผู้ซื้อต้องจ่าย VAT นำเข้า 20% บวกอากรขาเข้าอัตราปกติ เพราะไทยและสหราชอาณาจักรยังไม่มีความตกลงการค้าเสรี (FTA) ตัวอย่าง: เสื้อยืดผ้าฝ้าย กางเกงผ้าฝ้าย และเครื่องลายคราม 12% ผ้าพันคอไหม 8% เครื่องประดับเงิน กระเป๋าหนัง และตะกร้าหวาย 2% เครื่องสำอางบำรุงผิว สบู่ และเทียน 0%
- ของขวัญจากครอบครัวหรือเพื่อนในไทยมูลค่าไม่เกิน 39 ปอนด์ไม่ต้องเสีย VAT แต่สินค้าที่ขายต้องไม่ระบุว่าเป็นของขวัญ
- ผู้ขายต่างประเทศที่ขายผ่านเว็บไซต์ของตนเองให้ผู้บริโภคในสหราชอาณาจักร ต้องจดทะเบียน VAT สหราชอาณาจักรโดยไม่มีเกณฑ์ยอดขายขั้นต่ำ
- หน้านี้เป็นข้อมูลทั่วไป ไม่ใช่คำแนะนำทางกฎหมาย ภาษี หรือศุลกากร
Also selling from Thailand to the EU? See Thailand → EU: the €3 duty, the €2 fee and VAT. To the US? See Thailand → US: the 12.5% tariff. Selling jewellery? See jewellery import duty. Goods made in China? See China → UK customs charges. Made in Vietnam (0% under the UK–Vietnam FTA)? See Vietnam → UK customs charges. Made in Australia (0% under the UK–Australia FTA)? See Australia → UK customs charges. Made in New Zealand (0% under the UK–New Zealand FTA)? See New Zealand → UK customs charges. Returning an order? See international returns and duty refunds. We record every rule change in the change log.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules in Northern Ireland are different for goods from outside the UK and the EU. Tariff rates and carriers' and marketplaces' terms change; check the official tariff and their current pages. See the disclaimer.
Sources for this page
- VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK, HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- VAT and overseas goods sold to customers in the UK using online marketplaces, HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad (parts: Tax and duty; Gifts), GOV.UK. Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Verified
- Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the UK (policy paper, 13 Jul 2026), HM Treasury / HMRC. Accessed 29 Oct 2026. Verified
- Government backs high street with acceleration of cheap import reforms (23 Jun 2026), GOV.UK. Accessed 11 Nov 2026. Verified
- VAT rates, GOV.UK. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Verified
- UK Trade Tariff: commodity measures for imports from Thailand, codes 6109100010, 6204623990, 6214100090, 6911100090, 6912002310, 4202210090, 4202229090, 4602120010, 4602120090, 7113110000, 7117190090, 3304990000, 3401110000, 3406000000, 0902300000, 9503009990, HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Business and Trade (UK Trade Tariff). Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Verified
- Written question UIN 127063: Trade Agreements: Thailand (answered 20 April 2026), UK Parliament (answer by the Department for Business and Trade). Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Verified
- Pay a fee (customs charges), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- Pay a customs charge for parcel deliveries, Parcelforce Worldwide. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Partly verified
- Register for VAT (when to register, including businesses based outside the UK), HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- Information for Managing International Shipments, Etsy Help. Accessed 10 Nov 2026. Verified
Rules change often: the latest change we tracked was on 10 Nov 2026 (US: the 178 China Section 301 product exclusions are extended to 9 January 2027). Alerts send one short email, with the source, only when a rule changes on a route you pick.