The limit is intrinsic value per consignment: the price of the goods themselves, excluding transport and insurance when those are shown separately. It is not per item, and it is not per order total. Two items worth 90 euros each in one parcel make a consignment of 180 euros, and IOSS does not apply. The same two items shipped separately are two consignments of 90 euros, and IOSS does apply. The parcel is the unit, not the product.
The goods must also be sold to consumers, not businesses buying for resale, and they must not be subject to excise duty, so alcohol, tobacco, and certain energy products are excluded. IOSS is unavailable for EU territories outside the VAT area, such as the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and the French overseas departments. A brand that applies its IOSS number to a consignment above 150 euros, or to an excluded product, has filed a wrong declaration, not a clever one.
The practical rule is to block IOSS automatically above 150 euros in the checkout and the fulfilment system. Do not let a staff member or a marketplace feed override that control manually. The threshold is a hard line in the regulation, and the consignment either qualifies or it does not.
Until 30 June 2026, goods in consignments worth 150 euros or less entered the EU free of customs duty, even though import VAT applied. That exemption is abolished. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, adopted 11 February 2026, introduced a temporary 3 euro customs duty per item in low-value consignments, and it applies to IOSS shipments too. The duty is counted by tariff classification, not by quantity: five identical t-shirts attract one 3 euro charge, while a t-shirt and a watch attract 6 euros.
The duty runs from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, when the EU customs data hub for e-commerce is due to be operational and normal duty rates take over. A separate 2 euro Union handling fee per item was expected from 1 November 2026. Both are customs charges, paid through the customs declaration, not through the IOSS return. IOSS still covers the VAT. The duty and the fee sit on top of it.
For a US brand selling a 40 euro item, the arithmetic is now: VAT at the customer's local rate, charged at checkout and reported monthly, plus 3 euros of duty, plus the expected 2 euro handling fee. That is 5 euros before shipping on a 40 euro sale, and it is not recoverable from the customer after the fact unless the price or the shipping charge already covers it. Brands that priced for the old rules, VAT only, are absorbing the duty on every EU order.
The most common mistake is treating IOSS as a customs solution. It is a VAT solution. It does not wipe away duty, restrictions, or other import obligations, and it does not change the classification of the goods. A brand still needs the right HS code, the right origin, and the right customs declaration. IOSS changes who pays the VAT and when. It changes nothing else.
The second mistake is the monthly return. IOSS sales are reported in a single monthly return through one EU registration, and the return is due even in a month with no sales in some member states' practice. A brand that registers for IOSS and then forgets the return has a compliance gap that compounds monthly, and the intermediary that registered on its behalf will not chase it.
The third mistake is assuming the marketplace handles it. Marketplaces have their own IOSS arrangements for sales they facilitate, but a brand selling through its own store is responsible for its own registration, its own returns, and its own threshold controls. The marketplace's IOSS number is not yours, and using it on your own shipments is a fast way to a customs problem.
Related reading on this site: Section 232 at 50 percent: what the April 2026 recast changed, Your spreadsheet still assumes duty-free under $800. That exemption is gone., and Cross-border subscriptions: how duties and taxes work when the same customer gets a parcel every month.
IOSS covers business-to-consumer sales of goods imported into the EU in consignments with an intrinsic value of 150 euros or less. Intrinsic value means the price of the goods themselves, excluding transport and insurance when shown separately. Above 150 euros, IOSS cannot be used and normal import VAT and duty rules apply.
Yes. IOSS itself is unchanged: the 150 euro limit, the monthly return, and the intermediary rule still apply. What changed is customs duty. Since 1 July 2026 a temporary 3 euro duty per item applies to low-value consignments, including IOSS shipments, until 1 July 2028.
Per item, counted by tariff classification rather than by quantity. Five identical t-shirts in one consignment attract one 3 euro charge. A t-shirt and a watch, two different classifications, attract 6 euros. It is a customs charge paid through the customs declaration, not through the IOSS return.
No. IOSS cannot be used for consignments above 150 euros, and the IOSS number must not be applied to them. Those shipments go through the standard import procedure, with import VAT and customs duty handled at the border.