Anyone who orders goods outside the European Union could be surprised at the delivery immediately.

Since this Thursday, import sales tax will also be charged for orders with a value of goods below 22 euros.

Like VAT, it is 7 or 19 percent.

Previously, such packages could be sent tax-free in the EU, according to the European Commission, around 150 million per year.

In addition to consumers and retailers, the change also affects operators of online sales platforms and transport service providers.

Unless the import sales tax has already been added to the price by the seller, it is usually the deliverers who register with customs.

Jannik Waidner

Editor in business

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    The Deutsche Post, for example, charges a service fee of 6 euros for this. Customers then pay this together with the tax on the doorstep to the parcel delivery service or in the branch. For a shipment with a value of 10 euros, this results in an amount of 17.90 euros - the tax is not the significant additional burden. However, a portal should make it easier for retailers to pay the tax for their customers, which in turn should make online shopping more transparent. The fact that consumers pay taxes and service fees retrospectively should therefore become an exception. The consumer center Hessen points out that customers can pick up the goods themselves at the customs office in order to avoid the flat rate of the parcel service.

    There are still no reliable estimates of how high the additional tax revenue will be.

    It also remains to be seen how much consumers will now switch to orders within the EU or to shopping in the store for goods up to 22 euros.

    There will still be an exemption limit, albeit a much lower one, as tax amounts below one euro will not be collected.

    If the tax rate is 19 percent, the tax is only due from an amount of 5.24 euros.

    Customs fees are still only due from a goods value of 150 euros.

    The consumption taxes that are levied on imports for goods such as alcohol, tobacco and coffee will not change either.

    All imports announced in the future

    The new regulation is intended to improve the starting position for traders in the EU, who have previously had to pay import sales tax on all goods. The additional income that results from the expansion of the tax will benefit the EU country into which the goods are imported. What is new is that for retailers from non-EU countries, a threshold of 10,000 euros for the value of goods applies to the entire EU instead of different thresholds for each member country. In addition, from now on contact with a tax office is sufficient - the tax is subsequently distributed to the EU countries in which the dealer has sold goods.

    At customs, the new regulations are seen as positive. The previous exemption limit has been used en masse for tax fraud, with dealers reporting the value of goods far too low. Up until now, customs officials were only able to carry out spot checks on shipments with a value of less than 22 euros. "We now have the relevant data on these shipments, since in future all imports will have to be registered," says André Lenz, spokesman for the General Customs Directorate. In certain cases, collective registrations are temporarily still possible. "The additional electronic data simplify risk-oriented controls," says Lenz.