The same parcel, the same duty and the same VAT can arrive with a different total depending on who carries it. This is what each courier actually adds on top.
Customs duty and import VAT are set by the Government and do not change from one courier to another. What does change is the fee the carrier charges for dealing with the paperwork. When a parcel arrives with charges owing, the carrier typically pays HMRC first so the parcel is not held at the border, then collects that money back from you, plus a fee for doing so. That fee is set by the carrier, not by HMRC, and it is not a tax.
Royal Mail and Parcelforce (part of the same group) use a flat fee. The express operators, DHL, FedEx and UPS, tend to use a percentage-based fee instead. That single difference explains most of what follows.
Royal Mail charges a flat £8 handling fee on parcels where customs duty or import VAT is owed. It covers presenting the item to Border Force, clearing it through customs and getting it to your delivery point. The fee applies whether the charge you owe is £2 or £200, and it is not refundable even if you successfully dispute the underlying customs charge.
Parcelforce, which is part of Royal Mail Group, uses the same flat-fee model in two tiers. Most parcels attract the standard £8 clearance fee. Parcels valued over £900, which require a full customs declaration rather than the simplified one used for smaller consignments, attract a higher £25 fee instead.
FedEx charges an advancement fee calculated as 2.5% of the duty and VAT owed, subject to a minimum charge. Because there is a minimum, a small tax bill can attract a fee that is proportionally much larger than 2.5%, and because it is percentage-based, a large tax bill can cost you more in fees than Royal Mail's flat £8 would. The exact minimum is set by FedEx and is shown on the invoice you receive rather than published as a single fixed figure everywhere, so check the amount on your own paperwork before assuming it matches a number you have seen quoted elsewhere.
DHL Express offers to pay duty and VAT to HMRC on the recipient's behalf and then invoices for it afterwards, describing the charge only as "a small administration fee" rather than publishing a fixed rate. The amount depends on the shipment and is shown on the invoice DHL sends. If you want to know the figure before a parcel arrives, DHL's own duty and VAT guidance is the place to check, since it is not a number this site can responsibly guess at.
UPS applies a brokerage-style clearance charge that varies by shipment value and by whether a formal customs entry is required, rather than a single flat figure. As with DHL, the exact amount is set out in UPS's own current price list and on the invoice for your specific parcel, not as one number that applies to every shipment.
The practical takeaway. Royal Mail and Parcelforce are predictable: £8 on almost everything, £25 on the small number of high-value parcels over £900. The express carriers can end up cheaper on a very small tax bill or considerably more expensive on a large one, because their fee moves with the amount owed rather than staying fixed. If you are choosing between sending something by post or by an express courier and the customs bill is likely to be small, that difference is worth knowing before you pick a service.
Every fee on this page sits on top of, not instead of, whatever customs duty and import VAT are actually owed on the parcel. A courier fee is not something you can query with HMRC, because HMRC does not set it and does not receive it. If you think the underlying duty or VAT is wrong, that is a matter for HMRC and is covered separately in how to reclaim import VAT and duty. If you think the courier's own fee is wrong, that is a complaint to the courier.
Both carriers let you pay online on their own websites. You need the reference from your Fee to Pay card, or from the SMS or email they sent you. The charge must be paid in full before the parcel is delivered. Only use the payment page on the carrier's own website.
GOV.UK says that if you do not pay the bill, your parcel is returned to the sender after about 3 weeks. If you do not want the parcel, contact the seller before then.
Sources: Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad on GOV.UK, and the payment pages on the Royal Mail and Parcelforce websites.
Our calculator estimates the duty and VAT on your parcel, with an optional line for the courier handling fee so you can see both parts separately.
Related guides: Buying from the USA · Buying from China · Buying from the EU · Reclaiming import VAT · Parcel held at customs