Changes from 1 July and 1 November 2026

The most important things to consider:

1. The current customs-duty exemption granted to consignments with a value not exceeding EUR 150 is revoked.
2. To speed up the customs clearance process, a simplified customs duty calculation method will be applied to consignments with a value not exceeding EUR 150 from 1 July 2026 (EUR 3 for each different item declared in the consignment).
3. From 1 November 2026, a handling fee will be applied to all consignments (EUR 2 for each different item declared in the consignment).

Fair competition: to eliminate situations where traders from third countries have a price advantage over businesses in the European Union (EU), which are required to pay taxes in full.

Fraud prevention: to eradicate the practice of deliberately splitting consignments or undervaluing them below EUR 150 in order to avoid customs duties and charges.

Purchases (commercial consignments)

On 1 July and 1 November 2026, amendments to EU legislation concerning charges on e-commerce consignments will enter into force. These changes apply to low-value consignments from third countries received by individuals in the EU, including Latvia.

With the introduction of the new terms, from 1 July 2026 the exemption from customs duty for consignments with a value not exceeding EUR 150 will be revoked, and customs duty will apply to all goods purchased by individuals through distance selling from outside the EU (including online stores). From 1 November 2026, a Union handling fee will also be introduced.

The changes will apply to the purchase of goods in any third country – China, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Norway, etc.  

To receive a consignment, the goods must be declared. If the value of the goods contained in the consignment does not exceed EUR 150, a customs duty of EUR 3 per item in the consignment will apply from 1 July 2026, and from 1 November 2026 an additional Union handling fee of EUR 2 per item will also apply.

Lodging the declaration

If an online store or e-commerce platform (e.g., Temu, AliExpress, Shein, eBay, iHerb, Joom, etc.) sells goods under the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme, which allows import duty, VAT and the Union handling fee to be collected at the time of purchase, residents will continue to pay these charges when making the purchase, as they do now. If an online store or e-commerce platform has provided the necessary data to the carrier responsible for completing customs formalities, residents are not required to carry out these formalities themselves – customs clearance of the goods is handled by the consignment delivery service provider.

In all other cases, customs duty, VAT and the Union handling fee must be paid when the consignment is cleared through customs. A person may choose customs clearance method that is most convenient for them:

1. independently, by logging in to the State Revenue Service (SRS) Electronic Declaration System (EDS) and completing and submitting a simplified Import Customs Declaration for postal consignments in the Electronic Customs Data Processing System (EMDAS);
2. by using paid customs clearance services offered by customs brokers of JSC Latvijas Pasts or express carriers, or other customs clearance specialists to complete the required customs formalities.

If the person will choose to lodge the customs declaration on their own by using the SRS EDS, part of the data required to complete the declaration will be made available by the supplier (information on the postal tracking number, number of the temporary storage declaration, weight, etc.) and part of the data will already be at the disposal of the consignee (information on the goods, the seller, price, delivery costs, etc.). As soon as the required data will be provided in the declaration, the system will calculate the taxes. It will be possible to make the tax payment immediately online by clicking on ‘Pay’.

Once the taxes will have been paid and the status of the declaration in EMDAS will be indicated as ‘Goods have been released’, customs clearance will be complete, and the postal operator may proceed with the delivery of the consignment.

If a consignment contains goods that are subject to restrictions laid down in legislation, a simplified import customs declaration cannot be submitted. In such cases, a standard import customs declaration must be lodged.

If a person has authorised a customs clearance service provider to complete the customs formalities on their behalf, payment of the calculated taxes and duties, as well as any additional fee for the customs clearance service, must be made in accordance with the instructions provided by the service provider.

Customs Payments Calculator

Before making a purchase, a person can check whether the goods they intend to buy can be cleared through customs using the simplified procedure. All goods eligible for declaration under the simplified procedure are listed in the “Goods Classifier”, available in the Integrated Tariff Management System by selecting “Choose the goods from the classification list”.

Integrated Tariff Management System

Link to the Integrated Tariff Management System

Application of taxes

If a person purchases goods an online store outside the EU and receives the consignment with the value:

• from EUR 0.01 up to 150 - a fixed customs duty of EUR 3, VAT, and the Union handling fee must be paid for each item declared in the consignment;
• exceeding EUR 150 – customs duty must be paid at the standard rate applicable to the relevant commodity code under the EU Combined Nomenclature, together with VAT and the Union handling fee.  

If the consignment contains excise goods (e.g., coffee, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages), the excise duty will have to be paid regardless of the value of goods in the commercial consignment. 

It is prohibited to purchase tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and their cartridges in online stores and to receive these goods by mail.

The exemption of the customs duty, VAT and the Union handling fee will continue to apply on non-commercial consignments, i.e. consignments sent free of charge (as gifts) by a natural person from a country outside the EU to another natural person in an EU Member State, provided that the value of the consignment will not exceed EUR 45.

However, such consignments will still have to be declared in customs by lodging a declaration regardless of the value of the goods contained in the consignment.

The person will be able to choose the most convenient manner of customs clearance:

1. either by logging on to the SRS EDS and completing a short and simple import customs declaration;
2. or by using paid customs clearance services offered by customs brokers of JSC Latvijas Pasts or express carriers, or other customs clearance specialists to complete the required customs formalities.

In cases where a person receives a gift – a consignment containing goods with the total value:

• from EUR 0.01 to 45 – it is not necessary to pay the import duty, VAT and a Union handling fee;
• from EUR 45 – import duty must be paid at the applicable standard rate, together with VAT. The Union handling fee does not apply.

If the value of the goods contained in a consignment does not exceed EUR 700, the person may choose to apply the flat rate of import duty in the amount of 2,5 % of the customs value of goods provided that the import is not of commercial intent. The flat rate shall not be applied to tobacco, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages.  

Tax exemption applies to tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, perfumes and toilet waters sent in non-commercial consignments (as gifts) provided that the value of the goods contained in the consignment do not exceed EUR 45 and the following quantitative limits have been complied with:

1. no more than 50 cigarettes or 25 cigarillos or 10 cigars, or 50 grams of smoking tobacco;
2. no more than 1 litre of alcoholic beverages with a concentration of alcohol per volume exceeding 22% or 1 litre of beverages with a concentration of alcohol per volume not exceeding 22% and 2 litres of non-sparkling wine;
3. no more than 50 grams of perfume or 0,25 litres of toilet water.  

A person receives a gift consignment containing two items of goods valued at EUR 30 and EUR 20 respectively, with a total value of EUR 50. The person chooses to apply the flat customs duty rate of 2,5% to both items. Both items are subject to the standard VAT rate of 21%.

The individual must pay a total of EUR 12,01:

1. 2,5% of EUR 50 (EUR 30 value of the first item + EUR 20 value of the second item), which equals EUR 1,25 in customs duty;
2. 21% of EUR 51,25 (EUR 30 value of the first item + EUR 20 value of the second item + EUR 1,25 import duty at the 2,5% rate for the two items (as the customs duty amount is included in the VAT taxable base), which equals EUR 10,76.