Small parcels from outside the EU: the European fee starts on 1 November. Italy's own slips again, to 2027

27 October 2026, 16:07

From 1 November small parcels arriving from outside the European Union pay a new handling fee of two euros, set by the Commission to cover the cost of customs checks. It comes on top of the flat-rate duty of €3 that since July has applied to purchases under €150, and it is paid by whoever declares the shipment at the border, usually the platform that sells the goods, which is then free to pass it on in the price. It will be collected by the Italian Customs Agency, whose director has given assurances that no delays are expected.

Postponements, on the other hand, are something Italy knows well. In its budget law for 2026 the government had introduced a levy of its own, two euros on every non-EU parcel worth up to €150: it was due to start on 1 January, curb Asian online retail and bring money to the Treasury. Since then the start date has been moved four times, most recently on 22 October with a new decree of the Council of Ministers, and it is now set for 1 January 2027. For the Brussels fee, customs are ready on time; the one decided in Rome, after ten months, is still looking for a date that holds.

The reason for the latest postponement lies in the route that shipments take: a parcel sent from China can be cleared through customs in Belgium, the Netherlands or Hungary, where the Italian two euros are not charged, and then reach Italy on a lorry. A levy applied by one country alone, in other words, does not stop shipments: it sends them to the neighbours' customs, together with the work they bring. Assonime, the association of Italian joint-stock companies, had already said so in February, asking for the rule to be changed or repealed. Since then the government has done neither: it has moved the date.

Each month of waiting, according to the technical reports attached to the decrees, is worth €20.4 million of revenue that the State budget had already counted on and that must now be covered with other public money, that is, with everyone's taxes. Twelve months come to almost €245 million, the sum the budget expected to collect in a full year. Created to bring money into the public coffers, the Italian levy has so far only opened a hole in them that needs filling.

Meanwhile fewer parcels are reaching Italian customs: according to the Agency, in the first nine months of 2026 declarations for small shipments fell by 31% compared with a year earlier, and the decline had begun before the duty. Whether people are buying less or clearing elsewhere, the data do not say. What is certain is that from 1 November buyers will pay five euros of European charges per shipment, if the platform passes them on in the price, while the State goes on waiting for its own.

So the question, to the Ministry of Economy and the Customs Agency: if from 1 January 2027 a parcel cleared in Belgium still does not pay the Italian two euros, what will prevent a fifth postponement?

The European fee comes into force on time on 1 November. The Italian one has changed date four times and has not yet collected a single euro.

This article was prompted by a news item published in Unomattina (Rai 1) on 27 October 2026.