We’re just a few months away from one of the most impactful regulatory deadlines for anyone selling online in Europe. From 1 July 2026, two rules change at the same time and their effects compound: at EU level, the €150 de minimis threshold is being scrapped and replaced with a new flat duty of €3 per item on imports from third countries, while in Italy a €2 handling fee comes into force on every non-EU import parcel valued at €150 or less. Let’s look at what really changes for merchants, importers and end customers — and how to prepare without getting caught off guard.
What the de minimis threshold is and why it’s being scrapped
The de minimis threshold is the exemption that currently allows parcels worth less than €150 from non-EU countries (China, USA, UK, Korea and others) to enter Europe without paying customs duties. A simplification originally designed to reduce administrative burden which, in recent years, has become the main competitive advantage of Asian marketplaces such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress.
According to data published by the European Commission, in 2024 over 4.6 billion parcels entered the EU under the de minimis threshold — roughly 12 million per day, 91% of them from China. Volumes that have created clear market distortions and significant losses in customs revenue, as also documented by the Council of the European Union.
That’s why the EU has decided to act: from 1 July 2026 the €150 exemption disappears. Every parcel from a third country will be subject to duties, with no value-based exemption. The reform introduces a simplified system of duty bands (0%, 5%, 8%, 12%, 17%) based on product category, while major international couriers — including FedEx/TNT — have already announced in their Service Updates an operational duty of €3 per item on eCommerce imports from third countries.
€2 handling fee in Italy: the additional national layer
Alongside the European change, Italy is introducing — also from 1 July 2026 — a €2 handling fee applied to every non-EU import parcel valued at €150 or less. It’s an administrative charge to cover customs handling costs, applied directly by couriers and postal operators at the point of customs clearance.
The measure was originally planned for 2025 but was postponed to 1 July 2026 to align with the removal of the EU de minimis threshold, creating a coherent framework where every non-EU parcel bound for Italy pays both duties and the national administrative fee. The reference framework falls under the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, which is responsible for operational implementation in Italy.
The two changes side by side
| Aspect | EU de minimis removal + €3/item duty | €2 Italian handling fee |
|---|---|---|
| What changes | All non-EU parcels pay duties even below €150, with €3 per item duty (courier source) or band-based rates | €2 per non-EU import parcel ≤€150 bound for Italy |
| Effective date | 1 July 2026 | 1 July 2026 (postponed) |
| Territorial scope | All 27 EU countries | Italy only |
| Who applies it | National customs authorities at the point of import | Couriers and postal operators (Poste Italiane, express couriers) |
| Who pays in practice | Importer or end recipient | Parcel recipient |
| Effect on VAT | Import VAT (already due since 2021) is calculated on a taxable base increased by duties and the €3 fee | The handling fee also adds to the overall taxable base |
| Goal | Competitive fairness and recovery of customs revenue | Coverage of Italian customs handling costs |
Numerical example: what an €80 parcel really costs in 2026
To grasp the real impact, let’s take an €80 eCommerce parcel containing 4 items, shipped from China to an Italian customer:
Today, before 1 July 2026: no duty (under the de minimis threshold), no handling fee. Import VAT is already due since 2021 on the value of the goods. The customer pays €80 for the product plus VAT.
From 1 July 2026:
- Product: €80
- EU duty (4 items × €3): €12
- Italian handling fee: €2
- 22% VAT on the new taxable base (80 + 12 + 2 = €94): €20.68 (against €17.60 before)
- Total: €114.68 instead of €97.60
The customer ends up paying over €17 more than before, plus any additional courier charges for customs handling.
For a €30 parcel the percentage impact is even higher: we’re looking at almost a 50% increase on the final price. This is exactly the kind of scenario that will reshape the buying choices of millions of European consumers.
What does NOT change: a clarification
Before getting into the consequences, it’s worth clearing up a point that often causes confusion: nothing changes for intra-EU shipments. If you sell from one EU country to another — say from Italy to Germany, France, Spain or any other Member State — you continue to operate within the single market: no duties, no new customs declarations, no extra fees. The 1 July 2026 changes apply exclusively to flows from third countries into the EU, as confirmed by the official European Commission communication.
Impact on merchants: three concrete scenarios
Scenario 1: you sell products made in Europe
You’re among the potential winners of this change. For years your non-EU competitors have been able to offer artificially lower prices thanks to the duty exemption. From July 2026 that advantage disappears, and in many product categories (electronics, clothing, accessories) the price gap shrinks significantly. Now is the right time to re-communicate the value of your offer: quality, warranty, fast delivery, customer support in the local language, supply chain sustainability. According to Statista data, European consumers are increasingly sensitive to these attributes, especially in the mid-to-high price segments.
Scenario 2: you import non-EU products to resell them
This situation calls for immediate operational attention. If you import goods from China, the UK, the US or Turkey to resell on your eCommerce, you need to prepare to:
- Recalculate your margins: duties you didn’t pay until 30 June 2026 on parcels under €150 become a structural cost from July onwards (€3 per item or band-based rates, depending on the category)
- Consider consolidating shipments: in many cases it makes sense to import via container with a single customs declaration, rather than as small individual parcels
- Check the TARIC codes of your products to estimate the effective rate via the official TARIC database from the European Commission
- Update your pricing with the new full sourcing costs
An important note on the IOSS regime (Import One Stop Shop). If you currently use IOSS to collect import VAT in advance on parcels under €150 sold to EU customers, the regime remains valid after July 2026 for the VAT portion. The European Commission is working to integrate the new duties and fees into prepayment systems, so as to avoid pay-on-delivery and reduce customs blockages. It’s worth checking with your accountant or freight forwarder to plan the update of IOSS flows ahead of the deadline.
Scenario 3: your customers also buy on Temu and Shein
Even if you don’t import anything, the changes affect you indirectly. Consider the fact that the same consumer who buys from your eCommerce is almost always also a regular customer of Asian marketplaces. From July 2026 those customers, when ordering from Temu, Shein or AliExpress, will face higher final prices, longer customs clearance times and — if shipping to Italy — an extra fee discovered at delivery. Part of that audience will reconsider their purchases and start paying more attention to European merchants: a real window of opportunity opens up for those ready to communicate their value proposition well during this transition phase.
The problem few merchants are tackling: communication with the recipient
There’s a side effect of these two changes that few are seriously considering: increased confusion and anxiety for the recipient when a parcel arrives with unexpected costs.
Think of the customer who’s ordered a €90 product from an Asian marketplace — or even from your eCommerce, if you import to resell — and is faced with:
- a customs duty request (new, didn’t exist before under €150)
- a €2 handling fee (new, applied in Italy)
- higher-than-expected VAT, calculated on the increased taxable base
- any additional courier charges for customs handling
The result is predictable: complaints, parcel refusals, WISMO tickets (“where is my order?” requests), negative reviews. Those who import to resell will end up handling far more calls, emails and queries like “why do I have to pay something extra? Why is my parcel stuck in customs?” than in the past.
How Qapla’ helps you handle the new scenario
For merchants who import to resell or who manage cross-border shipments to end customers, the key to handling 2026 well is one thing only: transparency and proactivity in post-purchase communications.
With Qapla’ you can:
- Insert personalised messages in transactional emails to alert the customer in advance about possible customs charges, additional VAT or fees, avoiding surprises at delivery
- Add dedicated FAQs to the branded tracking page to clearly explain what duties, import VAT, EU duty and handling fee are — reducing customer care tickets
- Send automated multilingual communications via SMS and WhatsApp in critical shipment statuses, especially when the parcel is in customs, preventing the customer from thinking it’s “disappeared”
- Monitor all incoming non-EU shipments in real time, identifying parcels stuck in customs and acting before the customer opens a ticket
The difference between an eCommerce that handles the change well and one that suffers its consequences lies entirely in the post-purchase delivery experience: those who carefully manage the phase between shipment and delivery drastically reduce complaints and returns, even in more complex regulatory scenarios like the one ahead from July 2026.
Operational checklist for merchants: what to do by June 2026
Here are the concrete steps to plan before the deadline, in priority order. The first four points apply mainly to those who import to resell; the last four apply to any merchant who wants to handle the post-purchase phase well in a more complex customs scenario.
- Map your eCommerce import flows: how many parcels under €150 do you receive from non-EU countries? From which countries? How often? Without this data you can’t estimate the real economic impact
- Check the TARIC codes of the products you import via the official EU database to estimate the effective rate to add to the EU duty
- Recalculate your margins by including duties, EU duty, handling fee and the new VAT taxable base in your sourcing costs — and consequently in your selling prices
- Align your IOSS position with your accountant or freight forwarder to integrate the new prepayment flows and avoid blockages at delivery
- Update your eCommerce product pages where needed: price, value description, possible transparency notice on accessory costs at checkout
- Prepare clear FAQs for your end customers on the website and tracking page: what duties, import VAT, EU duty and handling fee are. An informed customer opens fewer tickets
- Set up automated post-shipment communications for critical statuses (parcel in customs, awaiting duty payment) via email, SMS or WhatsApp, to manage recipient expectations
- Train your customer care team on the new scenarios: how to respond to those asking why they’re paying more, how to handle those wanting to refuse the parcel, how to explain the difference between EU duties and the Italian fee