New EU Import Customs Rules 2026: The €3 Duty and €2 Fee

Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, AliCoinsDeals may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

If you shop from AliExpress inside the European Union, the rules just changed in a big way. On 1 July 2026 the EU removed its long-standing €150 customs-duty exemption and switched on a new charge, so the “under €150 means no duty” habit is now out of date.

The headlines have been noisy and often wrong, mixing up two very different charges. This guide sorts out what took effect in July, what changed again on 1 November, and who pays each, so you can budget for a European order without guessing.

Key Takeaways

Since 1 July 2026, the EU’s €150 customs-duty exemption is gone, and a temporary €3 duty per product type applies to goods valued up to €150 (European Commission, 2026).

An “item” is not each physical unit. It is all the goods in the parcel that share one tariff classification, so five identical shirts pay €3 once, while a shirt and a watch pay €6.

The €3 is a customs duty owed by the declarant (the seller, platform or their representative), who may pass it on to you. It is usually built into your checkout total, though sometimes the carrier collects it before delivery. It runs until 1 July 2028.

Since 1 November 2026, a separate €2 EU handling fee applies per declaration line on direct-to-consumer e-commerce parcels (Dutch Customs, 2026).

VAT has applied to all EU imports since July 2021, so this reform is about duty and fees, not a brand-new tax on the goods themselves.

What Changed for EU Imports in July 2026?

The EU abolished the €150 customs-duty exemption and replaced it with a temporary €3 flat duty per item type on consignments valued up to €150, effective 1 July 2026 (European Commission, 2026). The old rule let low-value parcels enter duty-free. That door is now closed.

Two details matter. First, this is a customs duty, a tariff on bringing the goods in, not the same thing as VAT. Second, it is charged per item, not per parcel, and “item” has a narrow meaning. The Commission defines it as “one or more goods in a consignment sharing the same tariff classification, description and, where applicable, origin”, and in practice the €3 is applied once per declaration line, however many units sit on that line (European Commission, 2026).

So the count that matters is product types, not pieces. Five identical shirts are one item and pay €3. A shirt, a phone case and a watch are three items and pay €9. The measure is explicitly temporary and is set to run until 1 July 2028, when the wider customs overhaul takes over, “unless extended if this infrastructure is not operational within the deadline”, meaning the new EU Customs Data Hub.

Why Did the EU Scrap the €150 Exemption?

The volume of tiny parcels simply exploded. In 2024, about 4.6 billion low-value consignments worth €150 or less entered the EU, roughly 12 million a day, up from 2.3 billion in 2023 and 1.4 billion in 2022 (European Parliament, 2025). Customs could not realistically check that flood.

Around 91% of those sub-€150 shipments came from China in 2024, driven by platforms like AliExpress, Temu, and Shein (European Parliament, 2025). Lawmakers argued the exemption gave overseas sellers an edge over EU retailers and left gaps for unsafe or undervalued goods. In November 2025, member states agreed to act faster than first planned, pulling the change forward from 2028 to 2026 (European Commission, 2025).

Our take: the parcel count roughly doubled every year from 2022 to 2024. A rule written for a trickle of postcards was never going to survive billions of shipments, so this reform was a question of when, not if.

Who Actually Pays the New €3 Customs Duty?

Legally the declarant pays, but the cost can still reach you. Under the rules published in June 2026, the duty falls on the declarant of the goods, meaning the seller, the IOSS holder, or their representative, rather than the consumer receiving the parcel (European Commission, 2026). The legal basis is Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382.

Dutch Customs is plain about what that means for shoppers: the declaring company “may pass these costs on to you. As a result, your order may cost more.” It adds: “You usually pay these costs when you check out at the online shop. Sometimes you pay your parcel carrier later, before your parcel is delivered” (Dutch Customs, 2026). Customs itself does not send you an invoice.

In practice, though, businesses rarely absorb costs forever. Expect some of the €3 to surface as slightly higher listed prices or thinner discounts over time, especially on very cheap items where €3 is a large slice of the total. Since 1 November 2026, import declarations for distance sales must also carry Product Identifiers, and “a generic product description will no longer be enough” (European Commission, 2026). That means a merchant identifier and a manufacturer identifier on every line, plus a standard code such as an EAN where one exists. It is the plumbing that lets customs check what is really in each parcel. So while the duty is rarely a doorstep charge on a prepaid order, it is not free money either.

What Is the €2 Handling Fee, and Does It Apply Now?

Yes, since 1 November 2026. It started life in the European Commission’s February 2025 e-commerce plan, which floated a €2 handling fee on parcels sent directly to consumers (European Parliament, 2025). Dutch Customs now states that “a European handling fee of € 2 applies to all e-commerce shipments from 1 November 2026”, charged at €2 per declaration line when a parcel bought outside the EU is delivered straight to an EU consumer (Dutch Customs, 2026).

Its own example: one parcel holding 2 shirts, 3 sweaters and 1 hat is 3 declaration lines, so the fee is €6. That is the same “count the product types” logic as the €3 duty. Three more points from the same guidance:

The declarant pays it to customs, meaning the seller, platform or their customs agent. That company may pass it on to you, normally in the checkout total and occasionally through the carrier before delivery (Dutch Customs, 2026).
It is non-refundable, even if delivery fails or the parcel is refused.
It is separate from the €3 duty. The Commission calls the duty “a separate measure from the handling fee” (European Commission, 2026), so a parcel under €150 can attract both.

The 2025 plan also floated a lower rate for goods routed through an EU warehouse. The current customs guidance does not mention one, so don’t count on it.

Here is how the two charges line up:

Charge	Status (November 2026)	Amount	Basis	Who pays
Customs duty	In force since 1 Jul 2026	€3 per item type (parcels up to €150)	Reg (EU) 2026/382	Declarant (seller, platform); may be passed on to you
Handling fee	In force since 1 Nov 2026	€2 per declaration line, any value	Reg (EU) 2026/2108 + delegated act	Declarant (seller, platform); may be passed on to you

VAT comes on top of both: Dutch Customs states that “VAT is charged on both the import duty and handling fee” (Dutch Customs, 2026).

Does This Add a New Tax on Top of VAT?

No, this reform is about duty, not VAT. Import VAT has already applied to all goods entering the EU since 1 July 2021, when the old €22 low-value exemption was scrapped (European Commission, 2021). So VAT on your AliExpress order is nothing new. What changed in 2026 is the separate customs-duty layer.

For most orders up to €150, VAT is still collected at checkout through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), which is why your AliExpress total often already includes it and the parcel clears smoothly. The €3 duty sits alongside that system rather than replacing it. If you want the full picture of how VAT, duty, and thresholds interact across countries, our import tax and customs fees by country guide breaks down each mechanism.

What Is Coming After 2028?

A much bigger overhaul is now law. The Council and Parliament agreed on 26 March 2026 on what the EU calls its most ambitious customs reform since 1968 (European Commission, 2026), and it was adopted as Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 of 16 September 2026, the new Union Customs Code that also underpins the €2 fee (Dutch Customs, 2026). It permanently abolishes the €150 threshold and builds new machinery to handle the parcel flood.

Two pieces stand out for shoppers. A new EU Customs Authority, to be based in Lille with around 250 staff, will oversee an EU Customs Data Hub that goes live for e-commerce on 1 July 2028. And a “deemed importer” rule will make online platforms the official importer, responsible for collecting duties and VAT at the point of sale. In theory, that means fewer surprise bills on delivery, because the charges are handled up front by the platform rather than sprung on you by a courier.

How to Avoid Surprises When Buying from AliExpress in the EU

You cannot dodge a legitimate duty, but you can stop it from ambushing your budget. Both the €3 duty and the €2 fee count product types, so the way you build a basket now matters more than it used to. A few habits keep the final price honest.

Read the checkout total line by line. A visible VAT or fee line means it is handled up front; the price you confirm is the price you pay.
Expect the duty to appear at the final payment step. The duty is added late in the flow, so the total you approve can be higher than the total you shopped against. Screenshot the breakdown before you pay, and look for the explicit statement that no further duties will be collected on delivery. If that statement is missing, a courier may still bill you, and claiming a wrongly collected duty back needs that screenshot.
Prefer Choice and IOSS-registered listings. Sellers that prepay charges at checkout give you a cleaner clearance and fewer courier handling surprises.
Do not assume European stock is charge-free. A local dispatch label is a shipping fact, not a customs status, and buyers report the duty line appearing anyway. What EU stock reliably buys you is speed and an affordable return, as covered in AliExpress EU warehouses.
Watch mixed baskets. A basket of several different cheap goods can rack up a €3 duty and a €2 fee for each product type, so €5 per type on a parcel under €150 before VAT, which is charged on both (about €6 at a 21% rate). Several units of the same product share one line, so they cost far less in charges than the same number of different products.
Budget the duty into big sale hauls. Plan around events with our 2026 sale calendar, and fold the likely charges into your target price rather than the sticker.

Remember that Buyer Protection covers problems with the order itself, never customs duties or VAT. Those are set by governments, so the platform cannot refund them. You can still stretch your budget with coins and promo codes, and the coin discount tool on our homepage helps you confirm the real price after savings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I now pay a €3 fee on every AliExpress order to the EU?

No. The €3 is a customs duty on goods valued up to €150, live since 1 July 2026, and it is charged per item type rather than per order or per unit. Five identical shirts pay €3 once; three different products pay €9 (European Commission, 2026). Officially the declarant pays it, but it may be passed on to you, usually in the checkout total.

Is the €3 duty the same as the €2 handling fee?

No. The €3 is a customs duty that took effect on 1 July 2026. The €2 handling fee is a separate charge that has applied since 1 November 2026, at €2 per declaration line on e-commerce parcels delivered directly to EU consumers (Dutch Customs, 2026). A parcel under €150 can attract both.

Why did the EU remove the €150 customs exemption?

Because low-value parcels surged to about 4.6 billion in 2024, with roughly 91% coming from China (European Parliament, 2025). Lawmakers said the exemption disadvantaged EU retailers and let unsafe or undervalued goods slip through, so member states brought the change forward to 2026.

Will my AliExpress prices go up because of this?

Possibly, but not automatically. The duty is legally the declarant’s to pay, but Dutch Customs says that company “may pass these costs on to you”, so on prepaid orders it normally shows up at checkout rather than as a delivery bill. Businesses may also fold some of the €3 into listed prices or trim discounts, especially on very cheap items where €3 is a big share of the cost. Watch your checkout totals.

Does this change replace VAT on AliExpress orders?

No. Import VAT has applied to all EU imports since July 2021 and is unchanged (European Commission, 2021). For orders up to €150 it is still typically collected at checkout via IOSS. The 2026 reform adds a customs-duty layer on top. VAT is now also charged on the €3 duty and the €2 fee, but the VAT system itself is unchanged.

Customs rules only feel unfair when they arrive unannounced. The picture for 2026 is simpler than the headlines suggest: a €3 customs duty per item type and a €2 handling fee per declaration line are both in force, the declarant is on the hook for them but may pass them on to you, and VAT works as before, now also charged on the duty and the fee. Keep an eye on your checkout totals, lean toward listings that prepay charges, and verify anything time-sensitive with the European Commission’s customs pages, because this reform is still rolling out.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules and dates can change; confirm current details with the European Commission or your national customs authority before relying on them.