Amazon seller news · VAT & tax

The EU's €3 Customs Duty: What UK Amazon Sellers Need to Know

Amazon explained the new EU import duty on 18 June 2026. It took effect on 1 July 2026 and hits UK sellers shipping directly to EU customers.

Last updated: 19 September 2026

In brief: the EU has ended the duty-free treatment of low-value parcels. From 1 July 2026, goods in a shipment worth €150 or less sent from outside the EU to an EU consumer carry a €3 customs duty for each item (tariff line) on the customs declaration. Because the UK is outside the EU, this affects UK sellers who send orders straight from the UK to EU customers — whether Amazon ships them through Remote Fulfilment or you ship them yourself. Stock already held in EU warehouses isn't affected.

How it works for each way of selling

How the order reaches the EU customer	Is the €3 duty charged?	Who pays and how
Remote Fulfilment with FBA (shipped from UK stock)	Yes, on shipments of €150 or less	Amazon adds €3 to the price the customer sees, then applies VAT
Fulfilled by Merchant from the UK	Yes, on shipments of €150 or less	An Amazon-approved carrier clears the parcel under Amazon's IOSS number and invoices you for the duty
FBA from EU warehouses (e.g. Pan-EU)	No — shipped within the EU	Not applicable

If you ship yourself (FBM)

For EU orders of €150 or less, Amazon now requires you to:

use a carrier Amazon has approved to clear parcels under its IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) number;
give that carrier the ASIN of each product and Amazon's IOSS number;
keep shipping delivered duty paid, so the customer never gets a surprise charge on delivery.

The carrier then bills you for the duty, which becomes a cost of making the sale.

If you use Remote Fulfilment with FBA

Amazon adds the €3 to the customer's price and calculates VAT on the total, so the price a customer sees can be higher than the price you set. Seller Central still shows your own price, without duty or VAT; the Revenue Calculator shows the final customer price. If you use automated repricing, check that the extra €3 doesn't push you out of the Buy Box on cheaper items.

A worked example

A UK seller sells a €12 phone case to a customer in France through Remote Fulfilment. The customer now sees €12 + €3 duty, with French VAT applied to the €15. On a €12 item that is a 25% jump before VAT — the kind of increase that can quietly kill sales of low-priced products shipped from the UK.

What it means for your bookkeeping

Customs duty is not VAT. Where you pay it (FBM carrier invoices), record it as import duty or cost of sales. It can't be reclaimed on a VAT return.
Keep carrier duty invoices with the order. They're the evidence for the cost, and they arrive separately from your Amazon settlements.
Watch EU margins. The duty is per item, so low-priced products lose the most. Compare your EU margin before and after July 2026 by marketplace.
Holding stock in the EU changes your VAT position. Moving stock into EU warehouses avoids the duty but usually means registering for VAT in the countries that hold it. Take advice before switching.

Customs duty is not VAT and can’t be reclaimed on a VAT return, so keep it apart from the VAT you do recover — see which VAT return boxes Amazon sales hit and Amazon VAT tax codes in Xero.

How TrueBooks helps

TrueBooks posts each EU marketplace's settlements in their own currency and shows profit by marketplace, so you can see exactly how July 2026 changed your EU margins. See the Amazon Xero integration.

Source: Amazon Seller Central announcement, 18 June 2026, referring to Regulation (EU) 2026/382. TrueBooks is independent and not affiliated with Amazon. General information, not tax or customs advice.