Buying goods online for personal use from outside the EU including the UK
Currently if your goods have:
- a customs value (including cost, transport, insurance and handling charges) of €22 or less you will not have to pay Customs Duty or VAT.
- a customs value of more than €22 you will have to pay VAT.
- an intrinsic value (the value of the goods alone excluding transport, insurance and handling charges) of more than €150 you will have to pay Customs Duty.
From the 1st July 2021 when the new EU VAT e-commerce package comes into operation, VAT will be charged on all goods entering the EU irrespective of their value, see details below. While the €150 threshold above for customs will remain the same.
How to calculate what you owe when buying goods online from outside the EU:
Customs Duty:
The customs value on which Customs Duty is calculated is the cost of the goods plus:
- transport (including postage)
- any insurance
- and
- any handling charges
to deliver the goods to the EU.
While the rate of Customs Duty that applies depends on the goods you import, You can find all the rates in the TARIC database.
