Romania and Italy will apply a logistics tax on parcels worth less than 150 euros from January 1, 2026, although no consensus has yet been reached at the European level in this regard From mid-2026, a customs duty worth three euros is also expected to be added for each item imported via electronic channels from outside the EU, as agreed by European Union member states states. This is expected to lead to prohibitive costs, at least for our country, for online purchases of non-EU products, shows a Deloitte analysis, published on Wednesday.
Deloitte specialists note that, while Romania applies a tax of 25 lei/parcel (the equivalent of five euros), Italy charges only two euros/parcel, agerpres reports.
"Individuals in Romania who buy goods online with a cumulative value of less than 150 euros from a state outside the European Union (EU) must pay, since the beginning of this year, a tax of 25 lei/parcel (the equivalent of five euros). Previously, parcels below this value were exempt from taxes. The idea of applying a logistics tax on parcels of this type is being discussed at European level, but no consensus has been reached yet in this regard. However, Romania and Italy have been applying it since January 1, 2026, with Italy's tax set at only two euros/parcel. Moreover, from mid-2026, this tax will be supplemented by a customs tax of three euros for each item imported via electronic channels from outside the EU, for which consensus has been reached among EU states. In this context, at least in Romania, the costs of online purchases of products from outside the EU will become prohibitive," the analysis shows.
E-commerce has become an integral part of the way European consumers shop (70% of them regularly buy products online, according to EU studies), and the number of low-value deliveries (under 150 euros) from outside the Union to EU customers has increased exponentially in recent years. In 2022, 1.2 billion low-value parcels were imported into the EU, and in the following years their number doubled year on year (2.4 billion in 2023, respectively 4.6 billion in 2024).
Consequently, the costs and efforts of customs authorities to process these imports (which still involve certain formalities) have increased significantly. On the other hand, European e-commerce players have started to claim that their competitiveness is being affected and have asked the European institutions to take measures to protect their rights in relation to external competitors. In this context, EU member states have started to discuss two courses of action: the introduction of a logistics (handling/processing) tax designed to compensate for the increasing costs that customs authorities have in supervising and handling the significant flow of parcels and the application of a customs duty of three euros per item for e-commerce parcels valued below 150 euros, designed to eliminate/reduce the competitive advantage enjoyed by companies that deliver from outside the EU on the internal market.
The 25 lei/parcel tax applies to goods purchased electronically by individuals (B2C), regardless of the country through which they enter the EU (thus eliminating the situation in which the goods were imported duty-free through another member state, for example Bulgaria, and then transferred to Romania). Parcels that are not delivered to the final recipients in Romania are not subject to the tax.
The obligation to pay the logistics tax belongs to the supplier of the goods, the person who sends the parcel or the entity that, through a digital platform, facilitates the distance sale of the goods.
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