A new customs handling fee starts across the European Union on 1 November for distance-sales consignments ordered from countries outside the EU, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) announced. The fee is two euros for each item line in the customs declaration and is part of the EU customs reform, meant to cover the cost of document checks, risk analysis and physical inspections.
Kaari Lainevool of the board's customs organisation department explained how it adds up: Customs duty is three euros and the handling fee is two euros per item line.
An order with three different goods therefore carries nine euros of customs duty and six euros of handling fees.
The fee applies to parcels that businesses send to private individuals, not to trade between businesses or to gifts between private persons. Depending on the online shop or platform, it may be charged at checkout or when the goods are imported. A consignment ordered or delivered before 1 November is still charged if its customs declaration is filed on or after that date.
Source: Estonian Tax and Customs Board, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
An Estonian company that sells goods shipped from suppliers outside the EU to consumers should show the new fee to buyers at checkout or explain that it is charged at import, because the fee depends on the number of item lines. Such sellers also need their import VAT arrangements in order, for example through the Import One-Stop Shop.
We prepare the IOSS registration of an Estonian company that sells goods from outside the EU to consumers. Import one-stop shop (IOSS) VAT registration