EU tax on small parcels from China and non-EU countries, when it comes into force in Italy

“We will impose a customs duty of three euros on parcels entering EU territory – explains a senior EU official – with two main reasons: to guarantee equal conditions on the one hand, and to provide customs authorities with the necessary tools to deal with, control and possibly remove dangerous products from the market”.

For the source, it is a question of “fairness” and of “applying the same rules to our businesses and to the goods that enter our territory and are sold online. There were consultations at all levels with member states, with interested parties, between the various services and at higher political level. We had six months: we will implement this measure in record time, making it operational starting from 1 July”.

The introduction of ahandling fee‘, management commission, which will become operational once the new EU Customs Code is published, probably in October. As regards national measures already in force, for example in Italy, these will have to cease “once the European standard comes into force”.

What happens in Italy

The entry into force of the Italian tax has been postponed to October 1, 2026therefore after the entry into force of the EU duty which is conceived as temporary, until 1 July 2028: thereafter, the duties envisaged for each individual good will apply (the EU Customs Data Hub will be operational). The volume of parcels with a value of less than 150 euros arriving in the EU is considerable: in 2025, around 5.9 billion items entered the EU from non-EU countries, without paying customs duties, over 16 million parcels per day. Over 90% of these packages come from China.

They represent 97% of imported parcels, but in value they only account for 2% of total imports. Over 60% of these products imported in 2025 were not in line with EU safety standards, in particular toys, electronic products, cosmetics, food supplements).

In practice, this is a customs duty of 3 euros per item, for low-value shipments (under 150 euros), exclusively for goods shipped directly to the consumer. In most cases, the person paying the duty is the platform, or the seller, or any other company involved in the sale and transportation of imported goods. Consumers who purchase online are not legally responsible for paying duties. Flat rate duty applies per item. For example, if you buy a t-shirt, an umbrella, and a pair of shoes you buy three items, therefore nine euros of duty. For goods coming from a country with which the EU has a trade agreement, the items can benefit from the agreement if they meet the conditions set out in the agreement.