EU importer for distance sales: your own Dutch company as the importer
A webshop or brand outside the EU pays €3 duty and, from 1 November 2026, a €2 fee on every item type in every parcel to an EU consumer. From 1 July 2028 the seller or the platform is the importer at EU customs. Your own Dutch company imports your stock in bulk, in one declaration, and sells from the EU.
Ask about your situationSince 1 July 2026, every parcel worth €150 or less that an EU consumer buys from a seller outside the EU pays a flat duty of €3 per item type. From 1 November 2026, an EU handling fee of €2 per item type comes on top, at any parcel value, and product codes become mandatory in the declaration. Dutch Customs charges VAT on the fee. Both charges stay with the seller when a parcel comes back.
From 1 July 2028, the new Union Customs Code makes the seller or the platform the “importer for distance sales”: the party that gives customs the data, pays the charges and answers for the product. That importer is established in the EU, or acts through an indirect customs representative in the EU with Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status, which then takes over its obligations.
Your own Dutch company (BV) is established in the EU. It imports your goods in bulk with one customs declaration per shipment, defers the import VAT with the Article 23 licence, keeps your stock in a Dutch warehouse and sells to consumers in all EU countries. The €3 duty and the €2 fee apply to parcels that cross the EU border on their way to a consumer; a sale from EU stock is an EU sale. Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT.
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
We set up and manage your Dutch company, and you have one contact person for all of it. Partners for customs, storage and marketplaces are chosen per assignment, and you see each price first.
Your company
- Your products, your brand, your prices and your sales channels
- The decision between parcels from abroad and stock in the EU
- The product file, the labels and the product codes per item
The Dutch company
- Your Dutch company, set up by power of attorney with the notary
- Customs number (EORI), VAT number, the Article 23 application and the IOSS or OSS registration
- Bookkeeping, VAT returns, OSS returns and annual accounts
- The role of responsible operator for product safety, in your own company
Customs, warehouse, marketplaces
- Customs broker for the bulk declarations, in direct representation for your Dutch company
- Warehouse and fulfilment in the Netherlands, with returns handling
- Marketplace and product compliance checks before the first shipment
Step by step
From parcels from abroad to one importer in the EU, your own.
- Your figures. You share your parcel volume, your item types per parcel, your products and your EU countries. Our team replies in writing with the comparison for your webshop and a quote.
- Your Dutch company. The notary sets up your Dutch company by power of attorney once all documents are complete.
- The numbers. Customs number (EORI), VAT number, the Article 23 application, and the IOSS or OSS registration in the name of your company.
- The product file. A partner checks the technical file and the labels. Your Dutch company becomes the responsible operator for product safety.
- The first bulk shipment. The customs broker declares the shipment for your Dutch company. The import VAT goes into the VAT return. The stock goes to your Dutch warehouse.
- Selling from the EU. Orders ship from Dutch stock to consumers in all EU countries. The VAT goes through the OSS return of your Dutch company.
The dates for sellers outside the EU
| Date | What applies | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | The duty relief for parcels worth €150 or less ended. A flat duty of €3 per item type applies to goods sold at a distance to EU consumers, whatever VAT scheme the seller uses: the import one stop shop (IOSS), the special arrangements or standard VAT. The declarant pays: the seller, the IOSS holder or the indirect representative. | In force until 1 July 2028 (Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382). |
| 1 November 2026 | An EU handling fee of €2 per declaration line, so per item type, on every e-commerce parcel from outside the EU delivered directly to a consumer in the EU, also above €150. Dutch Customs charges VAT on the fee. The fee stays due when the delivery fails or the consumer returns the parcel. | Published in the Official Journal on 22 October 2026 (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152); in force from 1 November 2026. |
| 1 November 2026 | Product identifiers (product codes) are mandatory in the customs declaration for goods worth €150 or less sold at a distance to consumers. Voluntary since 1 July 2026. | Mandatory (European Commission guidance, updated 20 July 2026). |
| 19 September 2026 | The new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, was published in the Official Journal. Most of its rules apply twelve months after entry into force, in September 2027. The EU Customs Authority in Lille starts its work in 2027. | Adopted and published. |
| 1 July 2028 | The seller or the platform is the importer for distance sales. The EU Customs Data Hub is mandatory for e-commerce. The €3 duty ends and the normal tariff rate per product code applies to every parcel. The €2 fee stays. | Adopted (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, recital 120 and Article 5). |
| 1 March 2034 | The EU Customs Data Hub is mandatory for all businesses and all movements of goods. | Adopted (Council of the EU, 3 September 2026). |
The charges per item type and the examples per parcel are on EU parcel rules 2026. The Data Hub and the fines of 1% to 6% of the yearly import value are on EU Customs Data Hub 2028.
What the parcel route costs a webshop each month
The €3 duty and the €2 fee are charged per item type, so per product code in the parcel. Three different products in one parcel are three lines, and each line pays €5 from 1 November 2026. VAT at the rate of the customer’s country comes on top, on the goods and on the fee. The example uses 10,000 parcels a month with three item types each.
| Parcels from outside the EU to each consumer | Bulk import by your own Dutch company | |
|---|---|---|
| Customs declarations | 10,000 parcel declarations a month, with 30,000 declaration lines and a product code on each line | One declaration per container or pallet shipment, with the normal duty rate per product code on the customs value |
| €3 duty (until 1 July 2028) | 30,000 lines × €3 = €90,000 a month | The normal duty rate on the purchase value of the goods. For US-origin industrial goods: 0% since 1 July 2026. |
| €2 handling fee (from 1 November 2026) | 30,000 lines × €2 = €60,000 a month, plus VAT | The fee applies to e-commerce parcels delivered directly to a consumer from outside the EU. A bulk shipment to your own warehouse is a normal import. |
| Flat charges a month | €150,000, before VAT, before freight, before the fee of the carrier per declaration | The normal duty on one declaration per shipment, and the fee of your customs broker per declaration |
| Import VAT | Collected at checkout under IOSS, or charged to the consumer at delivery | Deferred to the VAT return of your Dutch company with the Article 23 licence, declared and deducted in the same return |
| Returns | The €3 and the €2 stay paid when the parcel comes back | The return goes back to your Dutch stock |
| VAT on the sale | IOSS return each month, through an EU intermediary for a seller established outside the EU | Dutch VAT return; sales to consumers in other EU countries through the one stop shop (OSS) of your Dutch company |
From 1 July 2028 the €3 duty ends and the normal duty rate applies per parcel. The €2 fee stays, and the seller or the platform is the importer for every parcel. The example then changes in amount, and the number of declarations stays at 10,000 a month.
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 the importer for distance sales is
The new Union Customs Code defines the importer for distance sales as the person that supplies goods in distance sales to EU consumers, or the person that facilitates those sales, so the platform (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, Article 5(14)). There is one importer per sale. That importer gives customs the data, pays or guarantees the duty, the VAT and the fee, and answers for the compliance of the product. The Council of the EU puts it in one line: the platform is considered the importer of the goods, in place of the EU consumer.
An indirect customs representative with Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status can place the goods in its own name on behalf of the importer for distance sales. It then takes on the obligations of that importer (recital 65). Customs representatives for importers are established in the EU. A seller outside the EU therefore chooses between a representative in the EU that answers for its parcels, and its own EU company.
The rule applies from 1 July 2028, together with the EU Customs Data Hub for e-commerce. For systematic breaches the code sets fines of at least 1% and up to 6% of the value of the goods imported in the previous twelve months, with the loss of customs simplifications and restrictions on access to online platforms (Council of the EU, 3 September 2026).
IOSS: an EU intermediary, or your own EU company
The import one stop shop (IOSS) lets a seller collect the VAT at checkout for parcels worth €150 or less and pay it with one monthly return. A seller established outside the EU uses IOSS through an intermediary: a taxable person established in the EU, which registers the seller in its own member state and is responsible for the returns. The exception is a seller established in a country with a VAT recovery agreement with the EU, such as Norway, for sales from that country (European Commission, one stop shop portal).
A seller established in the EU registers for IOSS in its own name, in the member state where it is established. Your Dutch company is such a seller. For parcels that still cross the EU border, it registers for IOSS itself. For sales from Dutch stock to consumers in other EU countries, it uses the one stop shop (OSS) for EU sellers and files one quarterly return for all EU countries.
One Dutch company, many roles
A representative service takes one role for your parcels and charges per declaration. Your own Dutch company takes the roles at once, for the whole EU, in your own group:
- Importer at customs. Your Dutch company is established in the EU and declares the goods in its own name, with its own customs number (EORI). See importer of record in the EU.
- Article 23 licence. A business established in the Netherlands applies for the licence itself. The import VAT goes into the VAT return, declared and deducted in the same return. A foreign business gets the licence only through a fiscal representative (Dutch Tax Administration). See fiscal representation.
- Responsible operator for product safety. As importer, your Dutch company is the economic operator in the EU under the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), with its name and address on the product and in your listings. See EU responsible person for US sellers.
- Seller in the EU. Your Dutch company sells from EU stock, with a Dutch VAT number and the one stop shop (OSS) for consumers in other EU countries. On marketplaces it appears as an EU seller with an EU address.
- Importer for distance sales from 1 July 2028. For parcels that still cross the EU border, your Dutch company takes that role itself, in its own name.
The company is yours, the address is yours and the directors are yours; Holdwise sets up and manages, and stays outside your company. The warehouse is a Dutch logistics partner you choose. Prices: your Dutch company (BV) from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. Customs, warehouse and marketplace work by partners has its own price, which you see first.
US brands: 0% duty on US-origin industrial goods since 1 July 2026
Under the EU-US framework, Regulation (EU) 2026/1455, the EU eliminated its duties on imports of US industrial goods as from 1 July 2026. The regulation applies until 31 December 2029. The 0% rate is for goods that originate in the United States and is claimed by the importer in its import declaration, with the origin documented.
For a parcel under IOSS the €3 flat duty applies whatever the origin of the goods (European Commission guidance). The preference therefore works for a bulk import by your own Dutch company: one declaration, US origin, 0% duty, and the import VAT deferred under Article 23. See an EU company for US online sellers. Sellers in China see an EU company for Chinese online sellers.
Sources
- European Commission, guidance and legal text on the temporary €3 duty on low-value imports (8 June 2026, updated 20 July 2026): per item type, 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, product identifiers mandatory from 1 November 2026, 5.9 billion items in 2025.
- Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 on the elimination of the threshold-based customs duty relief, EUR-Lex (in force 1 July 2026).
- Dutch Customs, handling fee for e-commerce (updated 22 October 2026): €2 per declaration line from 1 November 2026, VAT on the fee, the fee stays due on returns.
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 on the amount of the Union handling fee, EUR-Lex (Official Journal of 22 October 2026).
- Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 of 16 September 2026 establishing the Union Customs Code, Article 5(13) and (14) and recitals 62, 65 and 120, EUR-Lex (Official Journal of 19 September 2026).
- Council of the EU, EU customs: Council greenlights landmark reform (3 September 2026): the platform as importer, Data Hub 1 July 2028 and 1 March 2034, fines up to 6%, over 90% of parcels from China in 2025.
- Council of the EU, EU action on the influx of small parcels (reviewed 3 September 2026).
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1455 of 25 June 2026 on the adjustment of customs duties on imports of certain goods originating in the United States, EUR-Lex (in force 1 July 2026, until 31 December 2029); European Commission, EU trade relations with the United States (2026).
- European Commission, one stop shop: registration, import scheme and the intermediary (2026).
- Dutch Tax Administration, reverse-charge mechanism on import, Article 23 (2026).
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (GPSR), Article 16, EUR-Lex (2023).
Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. Based on the regulations and official pages named under Sources, as they apply on that date.
Common questions
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