What you need to know about new customs charges

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Updated / Tuesday, 30 Jun 2026<br>20:08

Getty

Customs charges will apply to items purchased outside the EU

Aengus Cox

By Aengus Cox

Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Correspondent

New customs charges affecting purchases valued below €150 entering Ireland from outside the European Union are set to take effect.

The EU-wide €3 per item fee is designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers from imports that don't meet EU standards.

But how will what is probably the most significant customs change for Irish consumers since the UK left the single market work?

Here's what you need to know.

How will it be applied?

From 1 July, all purchases entering Ireland from outside the European Union will be subject to new customs charges.

This includes Britain, the United States and China.

The changes for low-value items are aimed at levelling the playing field for EU firms competing with Chinese discount-retail giants such as Shein and Temu.

If you shop from the Amazon.co.uk website, or with the likes of Temu and Shein, you'll likely be affected by the changes.

Each unique item in a package will be subject to a €3 charge plus VAT.

Packages under €150 in value were previously exempt.

What is considered a unique item?

If for example someone buys a pen, a book, and a lamp - those are considered three unique items, and the charge will be €3 extra in customs fees per item on top of whatever the items already cost - so a total of €9 more plus VAT (which should be charged at 23%).

However, if a shopper is buying two of the same item, e.g. two cotton t-shirts, just one €3 charge will apply for both items.

Whichever website is selling the items should make all of these charges clear at the checkout before you pay.

Retailers will be responsible for categorising the items they are selling to determine which ones are considered unique.

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Could there be any additional charges on top of the customs fees?

This is something consumers should be aware of.

Bigger online sellers such as Amazon or Temu have been preparing for these changes for some time and have put infrastructure in place to deal with them.

That means shoppers should be charged the €3 customs charge per item at the online checkout, so they'll know up front how much extra will need to be paid.

However, some smaller non-EU retailers might not have their systems ready in order to collect the customs fees for Revenue.

Consumers are being urged to check where a company is based before buying from them

If this is the case and the new customs fees are not charged at the point of sale online, then the delivery company - such as An Post, or DPD - will collect it on behalf of Revenue.

But the delivery company will charge administration fees of around €7 to do so.

Another thing to be mindful of is that some websites might appear to be selling EU-based products on the surface (i.e., showing an Irish or EU flag, using the euro as a currency) but in reality they might be coming from elsewhere.

Shoppers should scrutinise where a company is based before buying from them.

Amazon has even said it can't guarantee that customers using the Amazon.ie website won't have to pay the new customs charges for some items.

Can I avoid the new customs fees by ordering before 1 July?

No, the fees become due on any non-EU purchases entering Ireland from 1 July.

The date the items were ordered on is irrelevant for the purpose of paying customs - any payment due is determined by the delivery date.

At this stage it would be too late to order items to be delivered to Ireland before the new fees take effect, so any such purchases arriving from tomorrow will be subject to the €3 fee per unique item plus VAT.

If I return an item will the customs fees be refunded?

Revenue has made clear any customs fees paid with these...