Why a £60 parcel from abroad can arrive with a £30 bill attached — and how each part of that bill is worked out.
When something arrives in the UK from overseas, up to three separate charges can land on it. They come from different places, which is why the total often feels arbitrary.
Alcohol and tobacco carry a fourth charge, excise duty, which works differently and is outside the scope of this site.
£135 is the number that matters most. It refers to the value of the goods alone — not including shipping or insurance — converted into pounds.
| Goods value | Customs duty | Import VAT |
|---|---|---|
| £135 or less | None | Usually charged by the seller at checkout |
| Over £135 | May apply | Collected before delivery |
Below £135, overseas sellers are generally expected to register for UK VAT and charge it at the point of sale. That is why a small order from an overseas marketplace often arrives with nothing to pay — the VAT was already in the price you paid.
Worth knowing: the UK Government has confirmed it will remove the £135 customs duty relief, with the end date brought forward to October 2028 (announced 23 June 2026). Nothing changes yet. Once it ends, low-value parcels that currently escape duty will be charged at the normal tariff rate. See the government's reforming customs rules for low value imports page.
Duty is a percentage of the value of the goods, but the percentage is not a single national rate. It depends on two things:
That second point causes a lot of confusion. A jumper manufactured in China but shipped to you from a warehouse in Germany is, for customs purposes, Chinese. To claim a zero rate under a trade agreement, the sender normally has to provide a statement of origin — and if they do not, you pay the standard rate regardless.
Rates vary enormously. Many electronics carry 0% duty, while clothing and footwear are among the highest at around 12%. The only authoritative source is the UK Trade Tariff tool on gov.uk, where you can look up the exact code for your item.
Import VAT is 20% for most goods, but it is not 20% of what you paid. It is charged on the duty-inclusive value — so duty is added first, and then VAT is calculated on the larger figure. You are, in effect, paying tax on a tax.
Example. A £500 jacket made in China, with 12% duty:
Shipping and insurance are part of this too. Customs works from the customs value — the goods plus what you paid to get them here — so postage is included in the figure that duty is charged on, and then again in the figure VAT is charged on. Our calculator has an optional shipping field for exactly this reason; leaving it blank will understate a real bill.
One exception worth knowing. The £135 duty threshold and the gift limits are tested against the value of the goods alone, excluding postage. So a £130 item with £20 shipping is still under the £135 threshold — but if duty does become payable, it is calculated on the full £150.
A genuine gift sent between private individuals gets more generous treatment — but the conditions are strict, and marking a parcel "gift" when it is really a purchase is customs fraud rather than a loophole.
| Gift value | Duty | Import VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £39 | None | None |
| £39 to £135 | None | 20% |
| £135 to £630 | 2.5% flat | 20% |
| Over £630 | Normal rates | 20% |
In the £135–£630 band the flat 2.5% rate applies, but if the normal rate for those goods happens to be lower, you can ask for that instead. To qualify at all, the parcel must be sent by one private individual to another, for a personal occasion, with nothing paid or reimbursed by the recipient, and declared as a gift on the customs form. Border Force makes the final decision.
When duty or VAT is owed, the carrier usually pays HMRC first so your parcel is not held up, then recovers it from you — with a fee for doing so. Fees are commonly in the region of £8 to £15, though some couriers charge a percentage of the amount advanced instead, and they vary by carrier and service.
This is why a parcel with only a few pounds of VAT owing can still arrive with a demand for £20. The fee is often larger than the tax.
Since the UK left the EU single market, goods from the EU go through customs like anywhere else. Duty is often 0% under the UK–EU trade agreement, but only where the goods genuinely originate in the EU — and import VAT can still apply above £135.
Buying a used camera from a private seller abroad does not exempt it. Value is based on what the item is worth, and undervaluing it on the customs form is an offence.
If you return an item you have paid import charges on, you may be able to reclaim the duty and VAT from HMRC — but not the courier's handling fee. It is a claim you have to make yourself; nobody refunds it automatically.
Import duty is a percentage of the customs value: the price you paid plus postage, packaging and insurance to the UK. The rate depends on what the item is and where it was made, so check the UK Trade Tariff for your product. Goods worth £135 or less have no customs duty, apart from excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco.
Import VAT is charged on the price you paid, plus postage, packaging, insurance and any customs duty. The rate is 20% for most goods. Because duty is added before VAT is worked out, the VAT is more than 20% of the price alone.
Most often the goods are worth more than £135, so duty and VAT are collected before delivery, usually by the courier. Under £135 the seller normally charges the VAT at checkout instead. Gifts have their own limits, and the courier may add a handling fee on top.
Sources: Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad on GOV.UK.
Our calculator applies the thresholds above to your figures, including gift relief and currency conversion at live exchange rates.
Each of these goes deeper into one part of the picture above.