EUR 2 handling fee per item from 1 November, gifts excluded

From 1 November 2026Emta, every business-to-consumer distance-sale consignment ordered from an e-shop or sales platform outside the European Union attracts a handling feeEmta (käitlustasu) of EUR 2 for each goods item in the consignmentEmta, regardless of the consignment's valueEmta. The fee rests on Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152Emta: its Article 1 fixes the Union handling fee at EUR 2 per itemEuropa and its Article 2 applies the regulation from 1 NovemberEmta 2026Europa, binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

The fee covers B2C distance sales: goods ordered from a third-country e-shop or platform and sent by a business directly to a consumerEmta. Consignments where both the sender and the recipient are businesses (B2B) fall outside the feeEmta. Parcels sent from one private individual to another as gifts are likewise outside itEmta. The fee applies on uniform terms in every EU Member State and is intended to cover the costs of customs controls and supervision generated by fast-growing e-commerce flows.

The charge is levied per goods itemEmta (kaubaartikkel, item): goods in the same consignment that share tariff classification, description and, where the declaration requires it, origin count as a single itemEuropa. Identical goods grouped on one declaration line therefore count once for the per-item charge, while goods declared on separate lines are charged line by line. Because the fee applies regardless of value, it also reaches consignments above the EUR 150 small-consignment thresholdEmta.

Once accounted for, the fee stays paid. If a customs declaration is declared invalid, the handling fee is not refundedEmta. Separately, small-consignment declarations lodged on or after 1 July 2026Emta can no longer be declared invalid where goods sold under a distance contract are returnedEmta, following Article 148(3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446: a buyer who sends back an unsuitable item cannot have the declaration cancelled. The fixed EUR 3 duty paid on returned unsuitable goods is likewise not repaid; a reclaim backed by proof is available only where the goods were defective or damaged and have been returned to the seller.

The fee sits on top of the regime in force since 1 July 2026. B2C consignments worth up to EUR 150 carry a fixed EUR 3 customs duty per goods item on top of VAT; consignments worth more than EUR 150 attract the normal ad valorem duty rate, generally between zero and 17 percent depending on the goods, their value and origin. VAT is then computed on the goods value plus transport cost plus the duty. Declaration profile H7 is now reserved for distance sales worth up to EUR 150 and for consumer-to-consumer gift consignments up to EUR 150, while B2B consignments go through profile H1. Who files and pays follows the shop's setup: parcels from shops in the IOSS scheme are declared by the seller or its agent, such as the postal or courier operator, with the taxes generally already included in the checkout price, while a buyer contacted about a parcel needing declaration pays the duty and any clearance service charge to the carrier to have it released.

Legal basis: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 (Article 1 amount of EUR 2 per item, Article 2 application from 1 November 2026); Nõukogu määrus (EL) 2026/382; Komisjoni delegeeritud määruse (EL) 2015/2446 artikkel 148 lõige 3.