A EUR 3 customs duty will be introduced from 1 July for goods in low-value consignments
From 1 July 2026, customs duty will be payable on goods purchased by consumers from online stores and trading platforms outside the European Union (EU). This follows amendments to EU legislation governing the application of customs duties to e-commerce consignments from third countries received by individuals in the EU, including Latvia.
On 1 July this year, a Regulation[1] will enter into force abolishing the current customs duty exemption for consignments with a value not exceeding EUR 150. To ensure that the customs clearance of low-value consignments remains efficient, a simplified method for calculating customs duty will be introduced: a fixed customs duty of EUR 3 per item line in a consignment.
An “item line” refers to one or more goods in a consignment that have the same tariff classification, description, and origin. This means that if a consignment contains, for example, different types of clothing, a customs duty of EUR 3 will be applied to each item line separately. A dress, men's trousers, baby clothing, and a T-shirt are classified under four different tariff categories and therefore constitute four separate item lines. Consequently, customs duty amounting to EUR 12 will be payable on such a consignment.
No changes are being made to the application of value added tax (VAT). VAT will continue to be payable on all goods contained in consignments.
If an online store or e-commerce platform, such as Temu, AliExpress, Shein, or eBay, sells goods under the special VAT scheme that allows taxes to be collected at the time of purchase (the IOSS scheme), both VAT and customs duty may be paid when placing the order. In such cases, recipients will not have to complete customs formalities themselves, as customs clearance will be carried out by the delivery service provider.
In all other cases, taxes will have to be paid when the consignment arriving in Latvia is cleared through customs. As is currently the case, recipients may choose the customs clearance method most convenient for them: either by completing the process themselves through the State Revenue Service's Electronic Declaration System (EDS) by submitting a simplified import customs declaration for postal consignments, or by using paid customs brokerage services offered by SJSC Latvijas Pasts, express courier customs brokers, or other customs clearance specialists.
As part of the ongoing reforms in the e-commerce sector, the EU will introduce a Union handling fee for all consignments arriving from third countries from 1 November this year. The fee will amount to EUR 2 for each item line in a consignment.
These changes will apply to purchases of goods from any third country, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, and all other countries that are not EU Member States.
The amendments to EU legislation are intended to promote fair competition by eliminating situations in which traders from third countries enjoy a price advantage over EU businesses that pay taxes in full. The changes will also help combat fraud and the submission of false information regarding consignment values, such as declaring a value below EUR 150 in order to avoid customs charges. In addition, the new rules will strengthen safety controls, enabling more effective identification of products that do not comply with EU standards or may pose risks to consumers.
[1] Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 amending Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 as regards the abolition of the value-threshold-based exemption from customs duties.
Information provided by the State Revenue Service (VID).