Cullen International’s new report explains how EU VAT and customs rules apply to imported e-commerce goods, as well as describing the customs reform package, proposed by the European Commission in 2023.
Value-added tax (VAT) generally applies to all goods and services sold for use or consumption within the EU, although certain exemptions may apply depending on the nature of the activity.
The EU's VAT rules for the online sales of goods and services (applicable as of 1 July 2021) aim to facilitate cross-border trade, combat VAT fraud, reduce administrative and compliance costs, and ensure fair competition for EU businesses.
Customs rules are regulated by the Union Customs Code (UCC). When a package containing goods is shipped outside or into the EU, the relevant postal operator or courier (“operator”) needs to handle customs clearance. The operator normally completes and presents the customs documentation, ensures clearance, and passes on relevant duties and VAT payments to the customs authorities.
Our new report also explains the customs reform package, proposed by the European Commission. Under the reform, all imported goods, regardless of their value, will be subject to VAT on import (with the possibility to register with Import-One-Stop-Shop or IOSS) and import duties.
The report provides an overview of how those rules apply for postal operators and a worked example demonstrating the practical application of the rules.
For more information and access to the full report, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our European Postal service.
more news
28 April 25
Global trends in 5G and beyond
Our Global Trends benchmark covers 5G policies, regulations, and commercial reality across 20 jurisdictions around the world. The coverage has been extended to include the Philippines and Vietnam from this edition.
25 April 25
FTTH roll-out in MENA expands with different approaches to deployment
Our latest NGA deployments benchmark shows that all of the 13 studied countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) have started to deploy fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks.
23 April 25
Tower transactions in Europe continue to draw competition scrutiny
The European passive mobile infrastructure markets have seen a large number of mergers and acquisitions in recent years, attracting scrutiny from competition authorities. Cullen International’s new report draws on merger control decisions to explain how competition works in the market and what concerns, if any, authorities have raised about different types of transactions.