IOSS
Published 8 November 2026, 22:53
Import One-Stop Shop
The European Union's one-stop shop for VAT on imported purchases. A foreign shop registers with it once, charges VAT at the buyer's country's rate at checkout and pays it to the tax authority itself. It covers parcels worth up to 150 euros. For the buyer, this means VAT is already included in the price on the website, and the post office does not ask you to pay anything extra for the parcel.
Where you come across it. On a foreign online shop's invoice, as a VAT line at checkout; on a parcel's customs declaration, where the seller gives its IOSS number.
IOSS covers VAT, not customs duty. On 1 July 2026 the 150-euro duty-free threshold was abolished, and a temporary duty of 3 euros per type of item is now added to each parcel, calculated separately from VAT. If the shop is not registered with IOSS, you are charged VAT on import, usually through the carrier and with its handling fee on top.
Official website: taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs/eu-customs-reform_en