Delivered duty paid (DDP) or import VAT deferment: two ways to ship goods into the EU
Many sellers from China ship to Europe delivered duty paid (DDP). The seller charges one price and pays the duties and the value added tax (VAT), while a forwarder clears the goods through customs at the border. The alternative is to import in your own name and defer the import VAT. You then report and deduct it in the same VAT return, as the Netherlands allows under its Article 23 licence. With that choice you also settle who acts as importer, who can deduct the import VAT and how much of your costs you can see. Parcels to consumers also pay the new EU charges of 2026, a €3 duty since 1 July and a €2 handling fee from 1 November, each per item type.
Ask about your situationDelivered duty paid (DDP) is a delivery term under which the seller arranges import clearance and pays the duties and the import VAT. EU customs law in most cases requires the declarant to be established in the EU. A seller based outside the EU therefore uses a forwarder or customs agent that declares the goods in its own name.
With import VAT deferment, the importer reports the import VAT in its VAT return and deducts it in that same return. The Netherlands grants this through the Article 23 licence to businesses that import regularly and are established in the Netherlands, have a permanent establishment there or use a Dutch fiscal representative. Our guide to the Article 23 license in the Netherlands gives the details.
The importer that owns the goods, or that includes the import costs in its price, can deduct the import VAT. In many DDP set-ups the forwarder is named on the declaration while someone else owns the goods, so the import VAT ends up as a cost in your shipping price. With your own importer and deferment, the import VAT is reported and deducted in one return, and every cost appears on your own declarations.
Since 1 July 2026, parcels to consumers worth up to €150 pay a flat €3 customs duty per item type, whatever the VAT scheme. From 1 November 2026 the declarant also pays a handling fee of €2 per item type (declaration line), including on parcels worth more than €150. Sellers with volume can switch to bulk import into a warehouse in the Netherlands and send the orders from there. Our guide to EU parcel rules 2026 gives all dates and examples.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Who does what
Your Dutch company is the importer. Our team sets it up and applies for its registrations. Customs agents and the warehouse handle the goods under their own contract with your company.
Your company
- Your products, product codes and prices
- Your sales channels, such as marketplaces, your own web shop and business buyers
- The decision on stock in Europe
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch BV by power of attorney, with the notary
- VAT number, EORI customs number and the Article 23 application
- Registration for the EU VAT return for cross-border sales (OSS), for sales to consumers in other EU countries
- Bookkeeping and VAT returns, month by month
Customs, warehouse, compliance
- Customs agent in Rotterdam or at Schiphol
- Warehouse and fulfilment in the Netherlands
- Fiscal representative, when you start before your own company is set up
- Product compliance for the EU, such as labels and the EU responsible person
Step by step
From parcels shipped DDP to bulk import in your own name.
- You share your sales mix, meaning your products, your channels, your monthly volume and the countries of your buyers, and we advise which import set-up suits you.
- The notary sets up the Dutch BV by power of attorney and signs the deed once all documents are complete.
- We register your company for a VAT number and an EORI customs number and file the Article 23 application. Once sales to consumers in other EU countries exceed €10,000 a year, we register it for the EU VAT return for cross-border sales (OSS).
- A warehouse in the Netherlands receives the bulk shipments and sends out the orders.
- The customs agent declares the first bulk import for your Dutch company, and the import VAT is reported and deducted in the VAT return.
- Every month we keep the books and file the VAT return, and every quarter the EU VAT return for cross-border sales (OSS).
What DDP means at the EU border
Under DDP, the seller is responsible for transport, import clearance, duties and import VAT until the goods reach the buyer. Under delivered at place (DAP), the buyer handles the import clearance and pays the duties and the VAT. Sellers from China often call DDP shipping 包税 (bao shui, tax included) and importing with deferment 递延 (di yan).
A company from outside the EU declares goods into the EU through a representative. EU customs law requires the declarant to be established in the EU, with a few exceptions such as transit (Union Customs Code, Article 170). The representative declares the goods in its own name on your behalf, as indirect customs representative. You and the representative are then both debtors for the customs duty (Article 77).
The right to deduct import VAT belongs to the importer that uses the goods for its own taxed sales (VAT Directive, Article 168(e)). The Court of Justice of the EU confirmed this in case C-621/19 (Weindel, order of 8 October 2020). Such an importer uses the goods as owner or includes the import costs in its prices. A forwarder that declares your goods in its own name is usually only the transporter.
What import VAT deferment means
With deferment, the importer reports the import VAT in its periodic VAT return and deducts it in the same return. The Netherlands offers this through the Article 23 licence of the Dutch VAT Act. The licence is available to a business that imports regularly and is established in the Netherlands, has a permanent establishment there or uses a Dutch fiscal representative. A foreign company can therefore use it through its own Dutch company or through a Dutch fiscal representative.
Goods delivered directly to a business buyer in another EU country can also be imported under customs procedure 42. To get the VAT exemption on import, the declaration must show the VAT number of the importer or its representative and the VAT number of the buyer. The importer provides proof of the onward transport when customs ask for it. The sale to the buyer then counts as a 0% intra-EU supply.
Other EU countries have their own systems. Since 1 January 2022 France has applied reverse charge on import VAT for every business registered for VAT in France. Outside the EU, the United Kingdom has offered postponed VAT accounting for goods imported into Great Britain since 1 January 2021. It is open to every importer registered for VAT in the UK.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
DDP and your own import compared
| DDP through a forwarder | Your own import with deferment | |
|---|---|---|
| Importer on the declaration | The forwarder or a customs agent, in its own name | Your EU company, or your fiscal representative for you |
| Import VAT | Paid at the border and included in the shipping price | Reported and deducted in the VAT return |
| Right to deduct | For the importer that owns the goods or includes the import costs in its price | For your company |
| Costs you see | One price per kilo or per parcel | Duty, VAT and fees per declaration, in your own records |
| Customs value and product codes | Declared by the forwarder | Declared on your own data |
| Proof for marketplaces and buyers | Documents of the forwarder | Your own customs number (EORI), VAT number and import documents |
| Suits | Samples, small volumes, a first test | Regular volume, stock in the EU, sales to several EU countries |
Parcels to consumers after 1 July 2026
Since 1 July 2026, the EU has charged a flat customs duty of €3 per item type in distance-sale consignments up to €150, under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382. Customs count the duty per tariff classification, whatever the quantity. Five T-shirts in one parcel are one item type and pay €3, while three T-shirts and a watch are two item types and pay €6. The duty applies to all such consignments until 1 July 2028, whatever the VAT scheme.
From 1 November 2026, the declarant also pays a handling fee of €2 per item type (declaration line) on e-commerce consignments delivered directly to a consumer in the EU. This includes consignments worth more than €150, so a parcel with three declaration lines pays €6 (Dutch Customs, page updated 6 October 2026). The European Commission set the fee on 21 September 2026, and the rule appeared in the Official Journal of the EU on 22 October 2026 (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152).
For VAT, the EU import scheme for parcels up to €150, the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), still applies to these consignments. Customs charge the €3 duty and the €2 fee in addition to the VAT.
For a bulk import into a warehouse in the Netherlands, your company pays the normal duty for the product code. The duty is calculated on the customs value, which includes transport and insurance up to the EU border. Your company defers the import VAT under the Article 23 licence. You then send the orders from the Dutch warehouse to consumers across the EU as sales within the EU. Sales to Dutch consumers go in your normal VAT return. Once your sales to consumers in other EU countries exceed €10,000 a year, you charge their VAT. You report it in the EU VAT return for cross-border sales, the One-Stop Shop (OSS).
The new EU customs code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 of 16 September 2026, was published on 19 September 2026. It makes the seller or the platform the importer for distance sales from outside the EU to EU consumers (Article 5(14)). Most of the code applies 12 months after its entry into force, and the rules for distance sales apply from 1 July 2028.
Our guide to EU parcel rules 2026 gives all dates, examples per parcel and the choices for sellers. For goods that you store before you sell them, read our guide to the customs warehouse in the Netherlands.
The risks of low-cost DDP shipping
When the goods are declared for the forwarder, the import VAT becomes part of your shipping cost and your own records show one shipping price per parcel or per kilo.
A forwarder may declare values or product codes that are too low. In June 2025 the European Public Prosecutor’s Office reported an investigation into import networks that undervalued goods from China and misused VAT numbers under customs procedure 42. The damage to the EU and its member states was about €700 million.
The company on whose behalf the goods are declared remains a debtor. With indirect representation, customs can recover the duty from the representative and from you (Union Customs Code, Article 77(3)).
Last reviewed: October 2026. Sources: European Commission, guidance on the temporary flat duty for low-value imports (Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, updated 20 July 2026); Dutch Customs, handling fee (updated 6 October 2026); European Commission, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 on the amount of the Union handling fee (21 September 2026, Official Journal of 22 October 2026); Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 of 16 September 2026, Article 5(14) and recital 120; Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Articles 77 and 170; VAT Directive 2006/112/EC, Article 168(e); Court of Justice of the EU, order C-621/19; Belastingdienst, deduction of import VAT; European Public Prosecutor’s Office, investigation Calypso (26 June 2025); douane.gouv.fr and gov.uk on import VAT (checked 25 September 2026).
Common questions
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Related guides
More on importing into the EU and selling from the Netherlands.