EU guidance explains €2 handling fee for imported distance sales

The fee applies per imported declaration item

Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 establishes a fixed handling fee when customs authorities process a request to release goods for free circulation after a distance sale. Commission Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6694, adopted on 21 September, sets the amount at €2 per item. The fee is intended to approximate data-checking, risk-analysis, control and supporting-infrastructure costs. It applies regardless of value, including to consignments above €150, where the transaction is a qualifying distance sale.^[1][2][3]

Commencement is not yet final

The €2 amount is not operative merely because the Commission adopted the delegated act. Article 282(7) of Regulation 2026/2108 subjects this first fee-setting act to a 30-day no-objection period after notification to Parliament and the Council. Council document 13480/26 records receipt on 21 September. The act itself enters into force only on Official Journal publication and applies on the tenth day afterwards; the underlying fee rule follows that timetable. Businesses should therefore treat 1 November as expected, not final, until the numbered regulation and OJ date are confirmed.^[1][2][3][4]

Declaration lines determine the calculation

The guidance treats an item as a customs-declaration goods item. Goods classified on separate declaration lines attract separate fees even within one consignment, while multiple identical products on one line do not multiply the charge. Declarants are expected to use TARIC additional-reference code Y126 in H1, H6 or H7 declarations. Regulation 2026/2108 makes the declarant the fee debtor and makes the fee non-refundable once the declaration is accepted, including where the declaration is later invalidated or the goods are not released.^[1][2]

The fee is separate from the temporary €3 duty

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 introduced a separate temporary €3 customs duty, replacing the former relief for qualifying consignments not exceeding €150 from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028. The €2 handling fee is not that customs duty and also reaches qualifying higher-value imports. Both charges may therefore apply to the same low-value declaration item once the handling-fee rules become operative.^[1][5]

VAT and systems need coordinated changes

The guidance treats the handling fee as an incidental expense included in the VAT taxable amount under Articles 73, 78(b) and 86(1)(b) of the VAT Directive. For IOSS imports, no VAT is due on the fee at import, but a fee charged to the consumer at sale enters the IOSS VAT base. Under Special Arrangements and the standard import procedure, it enters the import-VAT base. Platforms, sellers, carriers and customs representatives should update declaration mapping, guarantees and consumer-pricing logic while retaining the commencement-date control.^[1][6]