E-commerce, EU breakthrough: parcels under €150 will also be taxed

Brussels – Parcels valued at less than €150 will also have to be taxed and pay customs duties to enter the single market. The EU economics and finance ministers reached a political agreement in principle at the Ecofin Council meeting, paving the way for the removal of the tax exemption that has been in place so far. The new regime is sought as early as 2026, but practical solutions must be found first, because the agreement is in principle, but from an actual and operational point of view, it will have to be developed. 

“This decision is necessary because of the increase in the volume of products sold online and coming from third countries, especially China,” Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for the Economy, said at the end of the proceedings. It is above all “made in China” that is at the centre of an  orientation strongly and convincingly supported by Italy. The Minister for the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, is, therefore, satisfied and hails what he does not hesitate to describe as “a positive agreement.” As he explains, “Italy has always supported this measure, one of the first in line with the discussion on unfair competition.”

The Minister for the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, during the Ecofin Council meeting [Brussels, 13 November 2025. Photo: European Council]

The measure is not intended to be an anti-China tool. Still, the bulk of packages arrive from the People’s Republic, and one of the fears around the table is that many goods will be sold in the single market at below-cost prices to avoid paying the tariffs imposed on parcels worth more than €150. According to the European Commission, in 2024, 91 per cent of all e-commerce shipments worth less than €150 came from China, and EU estimates show that up to 65 per cent of small parcels entering the EU are undervalued to avoid import tariffs. 

The increase in the flow of goods purchased online from abroad is, therefore, a wake-up call regarding tax evasion, as well as being, in itself, “a phenomenon that is destroying the retail trade,” as Giorgetti again denounced at the end of the Ecofin meeting. People are buying online rather than in shops, where they pay VAT, prompting a change of pace. 

However, the Italian opposition arises. For Pasquale Tridico, head of the 5 Star Movement’s delegation to the European Parliament, the tax on small parcels “is yet another tax imposed by the Meloni government on consumers.” In his opinion, “unfair competition is not fought by taxing shipments worth less than €150, but by opposing the excessive power of multinationals that evade tax, use algorithms to regulate workers’ shifts, and produce without respecting the most elementary rules of due diligence.” 

In the meantime, Ecofin is outlining the way forward, once the specifics of how to intervene will be defined, whether by means of a tax (a levy useful for financing clearly identifiable services) or a levy (useful for the general financing of a state’s activities). It is not yet clear whether the end of the tax exemption for parcels valued at under €150 will translate into revenue for national exchequers or the European Commission. All this will be worked on with the aim of providing answers as early as the next Ecofin on 12 December.