Irish consumers who shop online with operators based outside of the European Union are set to be hit with a further charge from later this year.
A new handling fee of around €2 is set to be imposed on all purchases from outside of the EU and will be on top of a €3 charge per distinct item that was imposed earlier this summer.
The changes which are being introduced as part of the EU Customs Code will see the cost of many low cost items bought on platforms such as Temu and Shein jump by at least €5 before the prices of the goods are included.
The details of how the new charge will be imposed have yet to be fully ironed out but a spokesman for An Post told The Irish Times that it understands that it will be “the next phase of the new Customs regime for good coming into the EU from outside”.
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He said that deliver companies including An Post “are waiting for clarity around the charge and what it will entail and be levied on. Indications are that the proposed handling fee, which will be a fee rather than a customs duty, aims to cover customs processing costs.”
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It seems likely that the new charge will be in the region of €2 and it will be rolled out from the start of November.
The charges and fees are being imposed by the EU and delivery companies will have a legal responsibility to collect them.
“When the initial changes came in in 2021 and again in July when the new €3 charge was imposed we worked with revenue and with the major shippers to ensure that customers had a variety of options to pay at source, or to pay the charge before claiming an item when it arrived here in Ireland,” the spokesman said.
Until the beginning of July this year, products bought from outside the EU that cost less than €150 did not attract any duty under what was known as the “de minimis” rule.
The massive growth in online marketplaces – based in China primarily – caused a dramatic rethink in recent years.
According to official estimates, about six billion packages with a value of less than €150 came into EU states from outside the European Union last year. That’s about 16 million every day or 200 a second.
The €3 charge is attached to each distinct product bought from outside the EU – even if several of them come in the same package so, if someone buys five white T-shirts, they pay one charge of €3. But if they buy one white T-shirt and a pair of jeans they pay two charges of €3.
When it comes to the new charge, the An Post spokesman said there is still “no clarity yet on whether the fee will be per item or per consignment”.
Most large online retailers that are accustomed to doing business with consumers in the EU – the ones that are already levying import charges at the point of sale – has added the extra €3 to each different product at their online checkout and it is expected the €2 charge will be similarly applied in most cases.
It is important to remember that the charges apply to products that come from outside of the EU irrespective of where the retailers says they are based.
If someone buys on a .ie site that ships from China, then they will have to pay the taxes and the new handling fee.
