UK to Germany customs charges (2026): the €3 duty, €2 fee, 19% VAT and Royal Mail
Posting a small Etsy, eBay or own-shop order from Great Britain to a buyer in Germany? Since July 2026 there is no duty-free limit any more. Orders of €150 or less pay a flat €3 duty per item type when VAT goes through IOSS or the parcel goes by post, and from 1 November 2026 a €2 EU handling fee per item type on top. German import VAT is 19%. If Deutsche Post has to collect the charges at the door, it adds a €7.50 fee, which is how a £13 order can cost a German buyer more than the order itself. Above €150, UK-made goods pay 0% duty under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with a statement on origin. Worked examples below, with an official source and date on every rule.
Calculate your own order for UK → Germany
Quick answer
- Order of €150 or less on Etsy or eBay: 19% German VAT is charged at checkout (IOSS). The €3 duty and €2 fee per item type are still due: prepay them (Royal Mail PDDP does this; Etsy says its own labels account for the €2 fee), or Deutsche Post collects them from the buyer, plus its €7.50 fee.
- Own shop without IOSS, posted with Royal Mail and not prepaid: the buyer pays €3 + €2 per item type, 19% VAT and Deutsche Post’s €7.50 at the door. On a €15 order with two different products that is €22.25.
- Fewer product types = lower charges: the same €15 order with one product type costs the buyer €16.30 at the door.
- Above €150: normal EU duty (for example 12% on cotton T-shirts) or 0% for UK-made goods under the TCA, plus 19% VAT and the €2 fee.
The rules in 60 seconds
The EU's €150 customs-duty exemption for low-value consignments was abolished on 1 July 2026 (Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382). Goods in consignments of €150 or less are now subject to customs duty.
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.
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
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
Royal Mail tells UK senders that a flat €3 customs duty applies per item on consumer (B2C) consignments worth up to €150 from 1 July 2026, including IOSS shipments, and that from 1 November 2026 the EU's €2 handling fee applies per item on distance sales, on top of the €3; VAT generally applies to the €2. Royal Mail counts a separate item for each distinct HS code, product description or country of origin.
Small orders (€150 or less): worked example
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?
Without IOSS, import VAT is collected from the buyer on delivery. The postal operator or courier usually adds its own clearance fee.
A marketplace or platform that facilitates the sale of goods imported from outside the EU in consignments of €150 or less to EU consumers is a 'deemed supplier': for VAT purposes it is treated as the seller and handles the VAT, whether it is established in the EU or not.
Etsy says that from 1 November 2026, if you buy the shipping label on Etsy, the €2 fee per unique item per package will be accounted for; if you buy labels elsewhere, ask your carrier how it collects the fee. For EU product identifiers, labels bought on Etsy send your listing ID as the merchant product ID and your listing SKU (or the listing ID if there is no SKU) as the manufacturer product ID; with labels bought elsewhere you enter them yourself (the listing ID as merchant ID and the listing SKU as manufacturer ID, adding a SKU first if the listing has none) and should not leave those fields blank.
Example: a €15 order (about £13) with two different products, for example a print and a pair of earrings, so two tariff lines, posted with Royal Mail to a buyer in Germany on or after 1 November 2026. Royal Mail parcels are delivered in Germany by Deutsche Post, which adds its €7.50 fee whenever it collects charges at the door.
| How you sell and ship | EU duty (2 × €3) | VAT (19%) | €2 fee × 2 | Deutsche Post fee | Buyer pays at the door | Paid at checkout or by you | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etsy or eBay (VAT at checkout through IOSS), €3 and €2 not prepaid | €6.00 | €2.85 | €4.00 | €7.50 | €17.50 | €2.85 | Open in calculator |
| Etsy or eBay (IOSS), you prepay the €3 and €2 (for example Royal Mail PDDP) | €6.00 | €3.61 | €4.00 | — | €0.00 | €13.61 | Open in calculator |
| Own website with your own IOSS number, everything prepaid (DDP) | €6.00 | €3.61 | €4.00 | — | €0.00 | €13.61 | Open in calculator |
| Own website, no IOSS, Royal Mail DDU (buyer pays on delivery) | €6.00 | €4.75 | €4.00 | €7.50 | €22.25 | €0.00 | Open in calculator |
With IOSS the VAT is paid at checkout. The €3 duty and the €2 fee are owed by the declarant, but if nobody prepays them they can be collected from the buyer on delivery, with Deutsche Post’s fee on top. Without IOSS, VAT is charged on the price plus the €3 duty, and on the €2 fee. With Royal Mail PDDP and no IOSS number, Royal Mail pays the German charges and bills them to you with its £1.00 per-item handling fee, so the buyer pays nothing at the door. Royal Mail’s own fees are not in the table.
An 'item' means each different tariff sub-heading in the parcel. Example: 1 silk blouse + 2 wool blouses = 2 items = €6. Identical goods can be grouped on one declaration line. How items are counted, with examples
The Commission's own examples: 5 T-shirts in one parcel = 1 item = €3; 1 T-shirt + 1 watch = 2 items = €6.
Each consignment is counted separately. Orders shipped separately to the same buyer are separate consignments even if they arrive on the same day, and one order sent in two parcels is two consignments. Orders of two different consumers must always be declared separately.
For the €150 limit, the value is the price of the goods themselves, without transport and insurance (unless they are included in the price and not shown separately on the invoice) and without other taxes and charges.
Read more about how the EU counts “items” and the €2 handling fee.
Royal Mail to Germany: PDDP or DDU
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
In Click & Drop you decide for each order whether you or the recipient pays customs and handling fees, or set a default under Settings > Customs > Miscellaneous. On personal accounts, step 4 (Review/edit package contents) shows the estimated fees, with a 'Recalculate fees' button if you change the service or contents, and the Payment Confirmation page shows them as two lines, 'Customs Duty Fee' and 'Customs Handling Fee'; fees for several items in the same payment are added together. Online Business Account users pick from a dropdown whether the fees go on their account or to the recipient. No fees apply to personal correspondence or to gifts under £39 (€45) sent to the EU. Royal Mail EU customs charges
Royal Mail says some EU countries still offer delivered duties unpaid (DDU), where the recipient pays the tax, duty, import tax and handling fees before delivery, while with PDDP in Click & Drop all charges, including the EU handling fee, are calculated at checkout and paid by the sender.
Click & Drop shows the charges as “Customs Duty Fee” and “Customs Handling Fee” lines: see Royal Mail EU customs charges explained.
Deutsche Post and courier fees in Germany
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
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.
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.
Buyers who refuse to pay at the door send the parcel back, often at your cost. Tell German buyers before they order who pays what, or sell through a marketplace or with IOSS and price the €3 and €2 into your shipping. More on the choice: DDP vs DAP.
Orders above €150: 0% duty for UK-made goods
Above €150, IOSS cannot be used. Import VAT and customs duty (normal tariff rate) are due at import, paid by the buyer (DDU) or prepaid by the seller (DDP via a courier).
TARIC on 12 November 2026, goods originating in the United Kingdom: normal EU duty of 12% on cotton T-shirts and women's cotton dresses, 10.5% on wool jumpers, 8% on wool shawls and scarves, 5.5% on ceramic tableware, 3% on leather handbags and 2.5% on silver and gold jewellery, against a 0% UK tariff preference (Trade and Cooperation Agreement) on every one of these lines; candles, skincare and toys are 0% anyway. Every line also shows the €3 low-value duty and the €2 Union handling fee from 1 November 2026.
Example: one item worth €200.00 made in the UK, sent by courier to Germany on or after 1 November 2026, buyer pays on delivery (DDU). Without the TCA preference the normal EU rate applies; with a statement on origin the duty is 0%. VAT is 19% on the price plus duty, and the €2 fee (plus VAT on it) is added in both cases. The courier’s fee is extra.
Codes and rates from TARIC, the EU’s official tariff database (European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union, checked 12 Nov 2026, origin United Kingdom). Duty and VAT are worked out on the item price only; customs charges them on the value including transport to the EU border. Printed books and works of art are not in the table because Germany charges them 7% VAT, not 19%. Your product may have a different code and rate: check it in our HS code lookup links.
How to claim 0% under the TCA
To claim 0% duty in the EU under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK exporter makes out a statement on origin (the text in Annex 7 of the agreement), with the EORI number as the UK exporter's reference. For exports to the EU it is valid for 12 months; exporters keep it and the records proving origin for 4 years. The EU's waiver of proof of origin for small packages under €500 does not apply to commercial imports.
If VAT is collected through IOSS, the €3 duty always applies, even to goods with preferential origin (e.g. UK goods under the TCA). Without IOSS, a preference can only be claimed on a full customs declaration (the 'H1' dataset), not on the simplified low-value ones; preferential goods are then outside the €3 regime, but the Union handling fee (from 1 November 2026) still applies. UK to Ireland customs charges
Postal items worth over €150 that Deutsche Post has to pass to an inland customs office (Binnenzollamt), for customs reasons or because the recipient is a registered self-clearer, are notified to the recipient, who must then declare them online to German customs (Internet-Zollanmeldung Einfuhr, 'IZA'). Canada to Germany duty and VAT
The preference is only for goods that originate in the UK under the agreement’s rules of origin, not for goods you buy from abroad and resell from Britain. For parcels of €150 or less it usually makes no difference, because the €3 duty applies anyway under IOSS or by post.
What Royal Mail needs on the customs data
Click & Drop needs a Product SKU and a Non-standardised Manufacturer ID for every 'E-Commerce Goods' item to the EU; Royal Mail made them mandatory for items posted from 26 October 2026, ahead of the EU rule on 1 November, and postage cannot be applied until they are entered. If you are not the manufacturer, the Manufacturer ID should not be the same as your SKU. They are not needed for items from Northern Ireland to the EU.
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
Royal Mail's customs rules: every item needs an HS code of at least 6 digits and its own line (identical items can be grouped with a quantity), nothing may be declared at £0, and postage should be declared at a reasonable cost, not £0 or £0.01. A GB EORI number is GB plus 12 digits and an IOSS number IM plus 10 digits. No customs declaration is needed for items from Northern Ireland to the EU.
Write what the item is, what it is made of and who it is for (“women’s sterling silver earrings”, “A4 art print on paper”), never just “gift” or “jewellery”, and add the HS code and “Country of origin: GB” for each line. Help: find your HS code, CN22 and CN23 and the EU product identifier checklist.
UK VAT on the sale: zero-rated export
HMRC: goods you post from the UK to a buyer abroad can be zero-rated for UK VAT as direct exports if you hold evidence of posting, such as a certificate of posting (form C&E132 or P326), a Certificate of Posting for International Mail or a Royal Mail Collection Manifest; for Parcelforce, the customs declaration receipt and the proof of shipment. Goods must be exported, and the evidence obtained, within 3 months.
If you are VAT-registered in the UK, keep the certificate of posting or Click & Drop manifest with the order. Not registered? This does not affect you; the German charges are the same either way.
Sending a gift 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.
Deutsche Post/DHL: gifts sent occasionally from one private person to another with a total value up to €45 usually pay no import charges in Germany; above €45, import VAT and duty are charged. Online purchases between private persons on auction platforms are not gifts, even if the sender ticks 'Gift' on the customs form, and items sent by or to businesses are usually not accepted as gifts. Canada to Germany duty and VAT
A shop order is never a gift, even if it is wrapped and sent to someone else. More: customs gift allowances.
Checklist for UK sellers shipping to Germany
- Count the different product types (tariff lines) in each parcel: each one pays €3 (IOSS or post) and €2. One product type per small order keeps the charges down.
- Ship one order in one parcel; a second parcel starts the per-item charges again.
- Selling on Etsy or eBay? VAT is collected for you, but decide who pays the €3 and €2: Royal Mail PDDP prepays them, and Etsy says its labels account for the €2 fee.
- Own website without IOSS? Your German buyer pays VAT, €3, €2 and €7.50 at the door, which leads to refused parcels. See do I need an IOSS number?
- Above €150 with UK-made goods, put the TCA statement on origin on the invoice.
Royal Mail says that for consumer (B2C) returns the €3 duty cannot be refunded once the goods have been released into free circulation.
Since 1 July 2026, the declaration for goods sold at a distance in consignments of €150 or less can no longer be invalidated just because the goods were returned after release. So the €3 duty is not refunded through that route. The general refund grounds (for example defective goods or goods not matching the contract, Article 116 of the Union Customs Code) still apply.
Returns: the €3 duty and the €2 fee are not refunded; see international returns and duty refunds. Selling to Ireland too? See UK → Ireland (23% VAT). Other EU countries: the UK → EU route guide. Buying stock from Germany? See Germany → UK customs charges. Every rule change is in the change log.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Whether your goods qualify for the TCA depends on the product-specific rules of origin, and Royal Mail, Deutsche Post and courier fees can change. See the disclaimer.
Sources for this page
- Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 (abolition of €150 duty relief; €3 per item), EUR-Lex. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Partly verified
- EU Customs Reform, European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Partly verified
- Council gives final green light to new customs duty rules for small parcels (11 Feb 2026), Council of the EU. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Partly verified
- Union Handling Fee (UHF) – 1 November 2026 (published 30 Sep 2026), Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs). Accessed 22 Oct 2026. Verified
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 of 21 September 2026 establishing the amount of the Union handling fee (OJ L, 21 Oct 2026), Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex). Accessed 23 Oct 2026. Verified
- Handling fee for e-commerce (last update 22 Oct 2026), Dutch Customs (Douane). Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Verified
- Commission sets Union handling fee at EUR 2 per item (2 Oct 2026), CLECAT (industry association, secondary). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Verified
- Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG) § 12 Steuersätze, Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de). Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Verified
- Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG) Anlage 2 (zu § 12 Absatz 2 Nummer 1, 2, 12, 13 und 14), Nr. 53 Kunstgegenstände and Nr. 54 Sammlungsstücke, Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de). Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Verified
- Hilfe zu Einfuhrabgaben (import charges FAQ), DHL Paket / Deutsche Post (DHL Privatkundenservice). Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Verified
- European trade insights: EU customs changes for UK senders (account guide last updated 27 October 2026), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- Customs formalities for low value consignments (IOSS), European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Verified
- VAT One Stop Shop: overview of the OSS schemes, deemed supplier and intermediary (import scheme), European Commission. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- Prepare for EU customs updates (Etsy announcement, October 2026), Etsy (official Community announcement). Accessed 28 Oct 2026. Verified
- Questions & answers – EUR 3 customs duty guidance (30 Jun 2026), European Commission. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Verified
- Guidance and legal text on temporary flat fee on low-value imports (8 Jun 2026, updated 20 Jul 2026), European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 22 Oct 2026. Verified
- The temporary EUR 3 customs duty and the Union handling fee: Guidance for Member States and Trade (version of 5 Oct 2026), sections 5.1–5.4 and 6.2 (consignment, item, postal consignments, preferential origin), European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 22 Oct 2026. Verified
- Postal Delivered Duty Paid (PDDP), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- How to configure customs and handling fees for international orders (Click & Drop Help Centre), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- Duty billing services (Duty Tax Processing, January 2026), DHL Express Germany. Accessed 2 Nov 2026. Verified
- Commission welcomes Council agreement on removing the €150 threshold for the VAT Import One-Stop Shop (9 Nov 2026), European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 10 Nov 2026. Verified
- TARIC consultation: measures for imports originating in the United Kingdom (GB), codes 6109100010, 6204420000, 6110110000, 6214200000, 6912002390, 4202210000, 7113110000, 7113190000, 3406000000, 3304990000, 9503009990; reference date 12 Nov 2026, European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 12 Nov 2026. Verified
- Proving originating status and claiming a reduced rate of Customs Duty for trade between the UK and EU (last updated 20 Dec 2022), GOV.UK (HM Revenue & Customs). Accessed 29 Oct 2026. Verified
- Hilfe zum Warenimport (import FAQ), DHL Paket / Deutsche Post (DHL Privatkundenservice). Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Verified
- How international customs works in Click & Drop (Click & Drop Help Centre), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- The temporary EUR 3 customs duty and the Union handling fee: Guidance for Member States and Trade (version of 5 Oct 2026), section 8 Product identifiers, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. Verified
- Product identifiers for e-commerce imports mandatory from 1 November 2026 (news, 3 Nov 2026), European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union. Accessed 4 Nov 2026. Verified
- Postal customs hub, Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- VAT on goods exported from the UK (VAT Notice 703), updated 4 March 2026, HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK). Accessed 12 Nov 2026. Verified
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.