The three options side by side
Your costs and your work depend on the option you choose. The EU sets the duty and the fees. Service providers and partners set their own fees, based on your volumes.
| Point | Ship direct | Importer service | Your own Dutch company |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | You send each order from outside the EU to the customer, often delivered duty paid (DDP). | A company in the EU is the importer on the customs declaration for your stock. It acts as indirect customs representative and is liable with you for the duty. | Your Dutch limited company (a BV) imports in its own name and sells from stock in the EU. |
| EU charges per parcel from 1 November 2026 | Parcels up to €150: €3 duty plus the expected €2 handling fee per item type. One item type: €5. Three item types: €15. Above €150: normal duty plus €2 per item type. | Normal duty once per bulk shipment, on the customs value. Orders from EU stock go out as parcels inside the EU, with zero customs charges per parcel. | Normal duty once per bulk shipment, on the customs value. Orders from EU stock go out as parcels inside the EU, with zero customs charges per parcel. |
| Import VAT | Parcels up to €150: the VAT of the customer’s country at checkout, paid in one monthly return in the EU import VAT scheme for parcels up to €150 (IOSS), through an intermediary in the EU. Above €150: import VAT at the border. | Paid at the border and reclaimed later, or settled in a VAT return through a fiscal representative with the Article 23 licence. | Settled in your own VAT return with the Article 23 licence, so the cash stays in your business. |
| VAT on your sales | On a marketplace, the platform collects the VAT on imported parcels up to €150 as the deemed supplier. | A VAT number in each country where your stock is. On a marketplace, the platform charges the VAT on sales by sellers from outside the EU. | Your own Dutch VAT number. Sales to consumers in other EU countries go into one EU VAT return for cross-border sales (OSS). Sales of goods to businesses in other EU countries at 0% VAT, with the customer’s VAT number. |
| Customs work | One customs declaration per parcel, with product codes from 1 November 2026. | The provider files the declarations for your bulk shipments in its own name. | A customs broker files the declarations in the name of your company, with its own EU customs number (EORI number). |
| Product safety and packaging | An EU responsible person for product safety, through a service. For packaging: a representative in each EU country where your packaging first reaches the market. | The same as shipping direct, unless the provider takes these roles on in writing. | Your company can be the importer named on your products for product safety, and the producer of your packaging in the Netherlands. Packaging in other EU countries: representatives through partners. |
| From July 2028 | You or your platform become the importer for distance sales. You must be established in the EU, or use an EU company with Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status as your representative. The €3 duty ends and normal tariff rates apply. | Possible, if the provider has Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status and acts as your representative. | Your company is established in the EU, so it can be the importer for distance sales itself. |
| Set-up and costs | An IOSS registration through an intermediary, product codes in your shop data and a responsible person service. A fee for each service. | A contract with the provider, plus a VAT registration where your stock is. Fees set by the provider. | Your Dutch company (BV) from €2,950 excl. VAT, with its tax and VAT numbers. A holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. EORI number, Article 23 licence and bookkeeping each have their own price. |
| When it pays off | A test market, low volumes, one item type per parcel, or parcels worth more than €150. | Your first bulk shipments, while you test stock in the EU. | Regular imports, stock in the EU, sales to EU businesses, marketplaces that ask for an EU company, and the importer rule of July 2028. |
Sources for the EU rules: European Commission (2026), Dutch Customs (2026), Irish Revenue (2026), Your Europe (2026) and the European Parliament (2026). The handling fee is expected from 1 November 2026; the European Commission adopted it on 21 September 2026.
A worked example: 1,000 orders a month
Take a shop with 1,000 orders a month to consumers in the EU. Each parcel has two item types and is worth less than €150.
| Cost item | Ship direct, from 1 November 2026 | Bulk import into Dutch stock |
|---|---|---|
| EU duty | 2 × €3 = €6 per parcel, so €6,000 a month | Normal duty once per shipment. Example: goods bought for €20,000 a month (the customs value), at a duty rate of 12%: €2,400 a month |
| EU handling fee | 2 × €2 = €4 per parcel, so €4,000 a month (expected) | Zero: the fee applies to parcels sent to consumers from outside the EU |
| Import VAT | The VAT of each customer’s country, through IOSS | Settled in the VAT return with the Article 23 licence; sales VAT in the EU VAT return for cross-border sales (OSS) |
| Logistics | International parcel postage per order | Sea or air freight per shipment, plus storage and fulfillment per order at the rates of your partner |
| Total EU duty and fees | €10,000 a month | €2,400 a month in this example |
The duty rate depends on the product code of your goods. The 12% rate is an example. Check the rate for your products in the EU customs tariff database (TARIC), or ask our team to check it with a customs broker.
The difference grows with every extra item type per parcel. It shrinks when your parcels have one item type each, or when your products have a high duty rate.
Three scenarios
A US Shopify brand
The situation. A clothing brand in the United States sells through its Shopify store. It ships about 800 orders a month to customers in Germany, France and the Netherlands, delivered duty paid from its warehouse in the US. Most orders have two or three item types.
What changes. From 1 November 2026, each of these parcels is expected to cost €10 to €15 in EU duty and fees, so €8,000 to €12,000 a month. The brand also asks: does a US company need a VAT number to sell into the EU? For parcels up to €150, it needs a registration for the EU import VAT scheme for parcels up to €150 (IOSS), through an intermediary in the EU. With stock in the EU, it needs a VAT number in the country of that stock.
A good option. The brand sets up its own Dutch company, owned by the US parent. The Dutch company imports the stock in bulk, applies for the Article 23 licence and sells from a fulfillment partner in the Netherlands. PostNL lists 2 to 3 working days to Germany and 2 to 4 to France (2025). The Dutch company can also be the importer named on the clothes for product safety. Read selling in Europe from the US.
A Chinese Amazon seller
The situation. A company in Shenzhen sells home goods on Amazon in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The goods go by sea to Amazon warehouses in the EU.
What applies. Amazon asks for a VAT number in each country where it stores your goods. With Pan-European FBA, you choose at least two storage countries, and Amazon says you can start with two VAT numbers (Amazon, 2026). Each product needs an economic operator in the EU for product safety, a rule in force since 13 December 2024 (GPSR). Because the seller is established outside the EU, the marketplace collects the VAT on these sales as the deemed supplier (Your Europe, 2026).
A good option. The seller sets up a Dutch company as importer for its containers into Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. The Dutch company has the EORI number, the Dutch VAT number and the Article 23 licence, and registers for VAT in the other countries where Amazon stores the goods. It can be the importer named on the products for product safety. Chinese owners plan the approval for investment abroad (ODI) and a complete bank file early, because Dutch banks check every new client (De Nederlandsche Bank). Read selling in Europe from China and selling on Amazon Europe.
An Indian exporter selling to businesses
The situation. A maker of engineering parts in Pune sells to wholesalers in Germany and the Netherlands. Today its buyers import the goods themselves.
What applies. The €3 duty, the handling fee and the product codes are rules for parcels to consumers, so these sales between businesses fall outside them. The EU and India concluded their trade agreement on 27 January 2026. Signing is planned in 2026, and entry into force is expected in the first half of 2027 (Council of the EU, 2026). The EU then cuts or removes its duties on 99.3% of India’s exports by value (European Commission, 2026). For iron, steel, aluminium, fertilisers or cement above 50 tonnes a year, imports need an authorised CBAM declarant established in the EU.
A good option. The exporter sets up its own Dutch company as importer of record. The company keeps stock in the Netherlands, sells to EU businesses at 0% VAT with their VAT number, and settles import VAT with the Article 23 licence. Buyers receive goods from EU stock, and the exporter keeps the customer relationship. For CBAM goods, the Dutch company can apply for the authorised declarant status itself. Read from India to the EU and importer of record in the EU.
Three questions to help you choose
- How many orders do you send to the EU each month? A few dozen: shipping direct can suit you. Hundreds or more: compare the cost of stock in the EU.
- How many item types does an average parcel have? Each extra item type adds €3 duty to a parcel up to €150, and from 1 November 2026 an expected €2 fee.
- Who are your customers? Do you sell to businesses, or on marketplaces that ask for an EU company? Then your own Dutch company gives you one EU base for both.
Make your choice before 1 December 2027. By that date, the European Commission checks whether the importer rule can start in July 2028. Read the details in the EU parcel rules 2026.
Check which EU rules apply to your products: answer a few questions and see your EU roles, registrations and dates.
What we arrange, and what partners do
We set up your Dutch company and arrange its tax number, VAT number, EORI number and Article 23 licence. When you need a warehouse, fulfillment, a customs broker or an EU representative, we find the right partner with you. We choose each partner per assignment, after you ask. You see every price first and have one contact person on our team. Our team works from Hoofddorp, next to Schiphol.
Specialists for medical devices, cosmetics, chemicals (REACH) and packaging representatives in other EU countries also come through partners. See the partner network and stock in the Netherlands.
Read next: the parcel rules and stock in the Netherlands
The EU charges per parcel in detail, and what a warehouse in the Netherlands needs.
Your company in the Netherlands
One package for the full setup. You sign a power of attorney in your own country. The notary in the Netherlands does the rest.
Swipe to see all four options →
Your Dutch BV
from €2,950
excl. VAT
- The notary deed, signed for you with a power of attorney
- Registration at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK)
- The identity check the law requires
- Registration of the owners in the register of ultimate owners (UBO register)
- Your tax number and VAT number
- The list of documents from your country, and how to legalise them (apostille)
- Advice on the setup that keeps your tax low from year one: one company or a holding, your first financial year and your salary
- Personal support during the setup and the start of your company
Holding and operating company
from €4,950
excl. VAT
Set up for growth of your company and your wealth.
- Two companies, set up together, with everything from the BV package for both
- You can pay profit to your holding tax-free (participation exemption)
- In your holding, you keep your profit apart from the risks of daily business, and you can invest it
- If you sell your operating company later, your holding receives the profit tax-free
What you can add
Made for your company. The price is in your proposal.
- Business bank account: the complete file your bank asks for
- eHerkenning: your login for the Dutch tax portal
- EORI number: your number for import and export
- Article 23 licence: you settle import VAT in your VAT return, so you keep that cash in your company
- One VAT return for all your online sales in the EU (One Stop Shop, OSS)
- Payroll tax number, so your company can pay you a salary
- A lower director salary, prepared and submitted to the tax authority
- The 30% ruling for you or your staff, when you relocate to the Netherlands
- Bookkeeping, VAT returns and annual accounts
- Licences and EU rules for your sector
Your first-year plan
Before you start trading, the team looks at everything you plan to do. You get a written plan, and the applications are filed for you. See the first-year plan →
- The registrations and licences your company needs
- Your salary, dividend and loans from your company in year one
- The tax schemes and deductions you are entitled to
- Your numbers for the first year: tax, salary and what you keep in your company
Your written proposal shows the exact amount before you decide. Owners from some countries need extra checks.
Want our team to have a look? →Free advice on your next step