Abolition of the EUR 150 Customs Duty Threshold, the Flat-Rate Duty and the Handling Fee – What Swiss Online Retailers Must Consider When Shipping to the EU from 1 July 2026

I. BACKGROUND: WHAT CHANGED ON 1 JULY 2026

Until 30 June 2026, consignments from a third country with a total value of up to EUR 150 could be imported into the EU free of customs duty. Import VAT had already applied to low-value consignments since 1 July 2021; they nonetheless remained duty-free. This customs duty relief was abolished without replacement by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 as of 1 July 2026. What matters is the moment of importation, not the moment the order is placed.

The political rationale for the measure: the volume of low-value consignments from third countries has grown so sharply in recent years that customs authorities reached their limits, and the value threshold was systematically exploited through undervaluation and the artificial splitting of orders. The legislator is primarily targeting the large, mostly Asian platforms. But it catches everyone who ships from a third country directly to end customers in the EU – and thus the Swiss online retailer with a cleanly managed, fully declared product range as well.

II. THE EUR 3 FLAT-RATE DUTY: WHEN IT APPLIES AND HOW IT IS CALCULATED

Until the comprehensive EU customs reform enters into force, a transitional regime applies. For consignments with an intrinsic value of up to EUR 150, a flat-rate customs duty of EUR 3 is levied instead of the tariff rates. This flat rate applies, however, only under two conditions.

First, there must be a distance sale, that is, a cross-border supply to a consumer. Pure B2B consignments do not meet this condition. Second, either the importation must be exempt from import VAT through use of the IOSS, or the goods must be in a postal consignment. Courier, express and freight consignments outside the universal postal service do not qualify; for them the regular tariff applies from the first euro.

The charge is calculated not per consignment but per declared item of the customs declaration, that is, per goods category. The German customs administration illustrates this as follows: a consignment containing four pairs of socks is charged EUR 3 once. The same consignment containing four pairs of socks, a soft toy and a charging cable is charged EUR 9. The quantity is irrelevant; the number of goods categories is decisive.

Example: A Swiss online shop sends a parcel to a customer in Munich. Contents: four pairs of socks, a soft toy, a charging cable, all goods of Swiss preferential origin. Intrinsic value EUR 78. Shipping is via the IOSS.

Solution: Three goods categories, hence EUR 9 flat-rate duty – and this despite the free trade agreement between Switzerland and the EU. Because the sale is processed through the IOSS, no preferential zero rate can be claimed for the goods of preferential origin – more on this below. The German VAT of 19 % has already been collected by the retailer at the point of sale via the IOSS; no import VAT arises on importation.

III. THE DECISIVE POINT: THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT DOES NOT HELP HERE

This is precisely the point that plays virtually no role in the discussion so far but is likely the most important one economically for Swiss retailers. Goods of Swiss preferential origin are duty-free on importation into the EU where a proper proof of origin is provided – for consignments up to EUR 6,000, an origin declaration on the invoice suffices. The free trade agreement, however, eliminates only the tariff rates. The flat-rate duty is not a tariff rate; it takes their place. The European Commission's guidance on the EUR 3 duty makes this explicit: where the IOSS is used, all goods are subject to the flat-rate duty – irrespective of the declaration procedure used and of whether a preferential zero rate would otherwise have applied.

For the Swiss retailer with goods of preferential origin and a multi-item basket, the simplification thus turns into its opposite: they now pay a duty they did not previously owe, and they pay it per goods category. The preferential zero rate is preserved on only one path: the goods of preferential origin must be declared in the full customs declaration (H1 dataset) with a preference code – and this is permissible only as long as the VAT is not collected through the IOSS. Whoever uses the IOSS loses the preference; whoever wants to keep the preference must forgo the IOSS.

Variation: The same basket, but processed without the IOSS and declared in H1 with a preference code. The flat-rate duty now does not apply; the tariff rates apply, and for goods of preferential origin with a proper proof they are zero. The price for this: import VAT arises at the border instead of being accounted for through the IOSS at the point of sale, and the full H1 declaration is more burdensome than the simplified clearance under the IOSS.

Whether this route pays off is a matter of pure arithmetic: the clearance flat fees charged by courier services regularly exceed EUR 9 per consignment by a wide margin, so that the IOSS, despite the flat-rate duty, generally remains the cheaper option for small baskets. Conversely, for consignments with many goods categories and a high intrinsic value, regular clearance with a preference claim may be advantageous. There is also the question of who bears the import VAT and whether it is deductible as input tax at the retailer's level. A separate exception applies to the pure postal route: postal consignments of preferential origin are exempt from the flat-rate duty as long as the VAT is not collected through the IOSS. We recommend running this calculation on the basis of your own order data before adjusting prices or shipping routes; the relevant procedures and codes follow from the European Commission's guidance on the EUR 3 duty of 2 June 2026.

IV. WHAT NEEDS TO BE ARRANGED OPERATIONALLY

The customs debtor is the declarant, and the declarant must be established in the EU. A Swiss retailer without an EU establishment cannot fill this role directly; they need an indirect representative who declares in their own name but for the account of another. Where the retailer uses the IOSS, moreover, only the retailer or their indirect representative can be the declarant – expressly not the recipient of the consignment. The allocation of roles between retailer, IOSS intermediary, logistics provider and customs agent must therefore be mapped cleanly, both contractually and in the system data.

Practically underestimated, then, is the collection of the charges. Because virtually every consignment now triggers an assessment of duty, an ongoing deferment account is required, and the security lodged for it must be adjusted to the sharply increased volume. Anyone who already holds such an authorisation can continue to use it; the reference amount lodged, however, must be reviewed. It is advisable to run a separate deferment account for the flat-rate duties – this considerably simplifies reconciliation with the logistics provider.

V. WHAT IS COMING FROM NOVEMBER 2026 AND FROM 2028

The flat-rate duty is not the end state. Under current planning, a handling fee will additionally be levied from 1 November 2026 to cover the customs administrations' clearance costs; its amount has not yet been finally set. The transitional regime applies until the comprehensive reform of EU customs law enters into force – under current planning, mid-2028. From that point, the regular, product-specific tariff rates are to apply to all imports, flanked by an EU Customs Data Hub that will centrally capture the customs data of e-commerce. The artificial splitting of orders will thereby become considerably harder to conceal.

VI. COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

• “The IOSS is now redundant.” The opposite is true. What was abolished is solely the customs-law relief. The import VAT exemption up to EUR 150 remains unchanged – and, outside the postal channel, is in fact a precondition for the flat-rate duty to apply.
• “It is EUR 3 per parcel.” As implemented by the German customs administration, it is EUR 3 per declared item. The Commission initially communicated this differently. Whoever packs several article categories into one consignment pays accordingly multiple times.
• “No duty arises on Swiss goods of origin anyway.” The free trade agreement eliminates the tariff rates, but not the flat-rate duty. Where the IOSS is used, EUR 3 per item arises despite the origin. Only those who forgo the IOSS and declare in H1 with a preference code retain the preferential zero rate.
• “We split the order across several consignments.” Since the flat rate arises per item and not per consignment, this achieves nothing. And for the period after 2028, artificial splitting is expressly a target of the reform.

VII. A LOOK IN THE OTHER DIRECTION

For supplies from the EU into Switzerland, nothing has changed. Here, the mail-order regime under Art. 7 para. 3 lit. b MWSTG and – since 1 January 2025 – platform taxation under Art. 20a et seq. MWSTG continue to apply. The two systems follow a different logic and different thresholds. Anyone shipping in both directions should assess them separately.

VIII. CONCLUSION

The abolition of the EUR 150 customs duty threshold is not a minor adjustment but a change to the calculation basis of every Swiss direct-to-consumer model with EU sales. The operational changeover can be handled with manageable effort if tackled now. The commercial question – flat-rate duty or regular clearance with preferential origin – deserves a calculation of its own; it may come out differently for your range than for your neighbour's.

As was the case when the One Stop Shop was introduced: whoever waits until the business reaches a critical size ends up chasing their own omissions. The consignments cleared today are the ones that will be worked through in a later customs audit. This article provides an initial overview; the rules are complex, are implemented differently across the Member States and are evolving rapidly. For questions on implementation in your business, we are happy to assist.

As at: 13 July 2026