Customs and fees for parcels from outside the EU in 2026
Updated 30 October 2026. Rules for parcels ordered from outside the EU changed three times in 2026. Short version for a parcel under €150 bought by a Romanian consumer from a non-EU seller: VAT 21% (usually charged at checkout via IOSS), Romanian logistics fee 25 lei per parcel (from 1 Jan 2026, owed by the seller/platform, collected by the courier), EU customs duty €3 per product type (from 1 Jul 2026, replacing the €150 duty exemption) and EU handling fee €2 per item (from 1 Nov 2026). Above €150: normal duties by product type plus VAT.
| Date | Change | Act | Status 30 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2026 | 25 lei logistics fee per non-EU parcel under €150 delivered in Romania (H7/IOSS imports); owed by supplier/sender/platform, collected and remitted by couriers/Poșta by the 25th of the next month; not refunded on returns | Law 239/2025 art. XXII | In force; ANAF collected 48.9 M lei in Jan 2026 (1.95 M parcels); a repeal bill (May 2026) not adopted |
| 1 Jul 2026 | €150 duty exemption removed; transitional flat duty €3 per tariff subheading in the parcel, any VAT regime, any declaration type; paid by the declarant (platform/seller/carrier) | Council Reg. (EU) 2026/382 + Impl. Reg. (EU) 2026/1200 | In force until 1 Jul 2028 (EU Customs Data Hub), may be extended |
| 1 Nov 2026 | EU handling fee €2 per item on distance sales from outside the EU regardless of value; mandatory product identifiers (PID) in the declaration | Reg. (EU) 2026/2108 art. 20; delegated regulation published OJ 22 Oct 2026 (reported no. 2026/2152); Poșta Română notice 29 Oct 2026 | Enters into force 1 Nov 2026; expected to replace the national 25-lei fee eventually, but no repeal published yet, so both apply |
| since 1 Jul 2021 | VAT on all imports, no threshold; IOSS platforms charge VAT (21% in RO since Aug 2025) at checkout; without IOSS VAT is collected at import by Poșta/courier plus a clearance fee | EU VAT e-commerce package | In force |
Who pays: the 25-lei fee and the €3/€2 charges are legally on the seller/platform/declarant; consumers see them in the price or at delivery. Poșta Română and couriers notify you officially if duties are due; payment links in SMS are scams. Intra-EU orders (e.g. Amazon.de) have no customs. Track the international code on the home page.
FAQ: the €3 is per product type, not per parcel; after 1 Nov 2026 the €2 fee applies to every non-EU distance-sale item at any value; as of 30 Oct 2026 the 25-lei fee still applies alongside; a week in customs is normal in Nov–Dec, after 7–10 days contact Poșta/the courier with the code.
Sources as in the Romanian version. Not tax advice. Next known review date: 1 July 2028.