Duty depends on three things, not one
People tend to look for “the duty rate for my product” as if it were a single number. It is the result of three inputs: the commodity code, the country of origin, and any preferential agreement between that country and the EU.
The same headphones can attract 0% from one origin and a double-digit anti-dumping rate from another. Goods made in a country with an EU trade agreement may enter duty-free, but only if you hold the right proof of origin at the moment of clearance — obtaining it afterwards is usually too late.
Import VAT is a cash flow question
For a VAT-registered business, import VAT is normally deductible: you pay it at the border and reclaim it on your return. It affects when money leaves your account, not whether the deal is profitable.
That distinction is worth being precise about, because import VAT is often the largest single line in the calculation. Treating it as a cost makes healthy margins look impossible; ignoring it entirely leaves you short of cash at clearance.
The rate charged is the destination country’s, not the seller’s: the same container costs different cash at clearance in Warsaw and in Frankfurt. The table of EU VAT rates has the current figure for each member state.
The €150 line, and what it does not do
Consignments with an intrinsic value up to €150 are relieved of customs duty. They are not relieved of VAT: that has been due from the first cent since the 2021 reform, and the old small-value VAT exemption no longer exists anywhere in the European Union.
“Intrinsic value” means the goods alone — freight and insurance are excluded from the €150 test, even though they are included in the value that duty is calculated on once the threshold is passed. The limit applies per consignment, not per item, so ten €20 products shipped together are one €200 consignment and duty applies to all of them.
Splitting an order into several parcels to stay under the line is a well-known idea and a poorly-considered one. Customs authorities treat artificial splitting of a single order as an attempt to avoid duty, and the shipping cost of several small parcels usually exceeds the duty saved in any case.
Who is named as the importer decides who reclaims
Import VAT is reclaimable by the party that is the declarant on the customs entry. Not the party that paid it in practice, and not the party that ends up owning the goods — the one named on the declaration.
This matters when a supplier offers to ship DDP and handle everything. It is a genuinely convenient offer, and the quoted price often looks competitive. But if the supplier or their agent clears the goods in their own name, the import VAT was theirs, not yours, and there is nothing for you to reclaim. A quote that appeared cheaper by a few percent turns out to be dearer by the full VAT rate.
DAP with your own EORI number and your own clearance is more work and usually the better arrangement: you see the declared value, you keep the customs documentation, and the VAT flows through your return the way it should.
On regular volumes that gap of a full VAT rate is not something negotiation wins back. The trade-off is worked through in DDP against DAP.
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The vocabulary of this section
Frequently asked questions
No duty, but VAT is due from the first cent. The €150 relief covers customs duty only, and it is measured on the goods alone — freight and insurance are excluded from that test even though they count towards the value duty is calculated on once the threshold is passed.
No, and they behave differently. Duty is a real cost you never get back. Import VAT is normally deductible for a VAT-registered business — you pay it at the border and reclaim it on your return, so it affects cash flow rather than profitability.
The supplier does, and that is the problem. If they clear the goods in their own name, the import VAT was theirs and you have nothing to reclaim. A DDP quote that looks a few percent cheaper can be dearer by the full VAT rate.
Yes, for any commercial import. It is issued by the customs authority of the member state where you are established, it is free, and nothing clears without it. One EORI works across the whole EU.