All consignments received from countries outside the European Union must be declared.
Customs duties and taxes
Customs duty (EUR 3 per item in the consignment as of 1 July 2026) and value added tax (VAT) must be paid on all goods purchased by individuals from online stores or e-commerce platforms and received in consignments from countries outside the European Union.
If an online store or e-commerce platform (e.g. Temu, AliExpress, Shein, eBay, iHerb, Joom, etc.) sells goods under the special VAT regime (the IOSS scheme), which allows customs duty and VAT to be collected at the time of purchase, individuals pay the customs charges when making the purchase. If the online store or e-commerce platform has provided the relevant data to the carrier responsible for completing the customs formalities, individuals are not required to complete the customs formalities themselves, as the customs clearance of the goods is carried out by the consignment delivery service provider.
In all other cases, customs duty and VAT must be paid when the consignment is cleared through customs. The person may complete the customs clearance themselves or, for a fee, entrust it to a customs clearance specialist.
If the consignment contains excise goods, excise duty must also be paid in addition to customs duty and VAT.
To determine, before making a purchase, which taxes will apply and what the total amount payable for the selected goods will be, please use:
CUSTOMS DUTY AND TAX CALCULATOR FOR POSTAL CONSIGNMENTS
Calculate the amount of tax applicable to the postal shipment based on the type and value of the goods.
Before making a purchase, check the website’s terms and conditions to understand how the company selling the goods applies customs charges. Review the website’s "Terms and Conditions" to find out where the goods will be dispatched from and whether customs clearance will be required.
Customs clearance of consignments
If the customs charges have not been paid at the time of purchase, they must be paid when the goods are cleared through customs. Once the consignment has arrived in Latvia, the recipient may choose the most convenient option: either complete a short and simple import customs declaration in the Electronic Declaration System (EDS) of the State Revenue Service, or authorise the postal or express delivery service provider, for a fee, to carry out the customs clearance on their behalf.
The simplified import customs declaration for postal consignments in the EDS may be completed in Latvian or English. If, upon reviewing the declaration, a customs officer requests amendments, this information will be provided in the declaration only in the official language of the Republic of Latvia, that is Latvian, regardless of the language in which the declaration was submitted.
Delivery of consignments
International postal consignments within the Republic of Latvia are delivered by SJSC Latvijas Pasts, the universal postal service provider, as well as by postal operators offering express mail or courier services, such as TNT Latvia Ltd., DHL Express Latvia Ltd., EKL/LS Ltd. (authorised representative of UPS in Latvia), FedEx Express (branch of Federal Express Corporation in Latvia), Omniva Ltd., and others.
Legal framework
- Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 amending Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 as regards the removal of the value threshold-based customs duty relief.
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200 of 5 June 2026 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 as regards rules on the implementation of the temporary EUR 3 customs duty on the distance sale of imported goods in consignment with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150.
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022 of 30 June 2026 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 as regards definitions, customs declarations and data elements related to the temporary EUR 3 customs duty on distance sales of imported goods contained in a consignment with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150.