Global Daily Tax News, EU Eyeing Higher Taxes On Low-Value Consignments, (Feb 7, 2025)

The European Commission has announced a new action plan in response to the surge in low-value imports sold via non-EU online retailers and marketplaces hosting non-EU traders.

Last year, around 4.6 billion low-value consignments – goods with a value not exceeding EUR150 entered the EU market, or about 12 million parcels per day. This was twice as many as in 2023 and three times as many as in 2022. The Commission said many of these goods have been found to be non-compliant with European legislation, resulting in harmful or counterfeit products increasingly entering the EU and consumers facing unfair practices. It added the large number of packages being shipped and transported has a negative environmental and climate footprint.

The Commission has proposed "A Comprehensive EU Toolbox for Safe and Sustainable E-commerce". Among various other things, the package calls for lawmakers to swiftly adopt the proposed Customs Union Reform Package, allowing rapid implementation of new rules to level the playing field in the area of e-commerce. These include removal of the duty exemption for low-value parcels worth less than EUR150 and reinforcing capabilities for controls, such as better data-sharing and risk assessment.

The Commission has also called for consideration of further measures, including a non-discriminatory handling fee, on e-commerce items imported in the EU directly to consumers, to address the scaling costs of supervising compliance of billions of such consignments with EU rules.