Changes to global customs and imports: duties, taxes and fees explained

Read the latest updates on international customs requirements, landed costs, and what you need to know before sending parcels overseas.

Changes to import duties, taxes and fees of postal services to the European Union

The European Union (EU) has announced customs and import Value Added Tax (VAT) changes effective 1 July 2026, impacting postal sending to all EU member states.

Similar to the US, Zonos® will support the calculation, collection and remittance of duties, taxes and fees ("landed costs") that are now applicable to EU-bound shipments.

What’s changing

The EU is removing the EUR150 de minimis threshold that has previously allowed low-value goods to pass into the EU free of customs duty.

From 1 July 2026, all items sent to the EU, except for gifts valued below EUR45, will be subject to customs duty and VAT:

Parcels valued under EUR150: VAT will apply to the parcel, along with a flat-rate customs duty fee of EUR3 per item.
Parcels valued over EUR150: the existing customs duty and tax processes will continue to apply.

This customs duty fee of EUR3 will apply per item, not per parcel – the fee will be charged for every distinct item in your parcel. Under the EU’s Delegated Regulation, an ‘item’ is defined as goods in a parcel that share the same HS tariff code, item description and (where required) country of origin.

A parcel with three goods that differ on any of those criteria - and therefore classified as three distinct items - will be charged EUR9, not EUR3. For example:

A parcel containing 3 distinct items

Item description	HS tariff code	Country of origin	Quantity	Fee
Baseball cap	650500	Vietnam	1	EUR3
Cotton t-shirt	610910	Fiji	1	EUR3
Baseball cap	650500	Bangladesh	1	EUR3
TOTAL				EUR9

However, if multiple goods share identical details for the above criteria and are grouped on a single line, they can be classified as a single item in a parcel within the EU’s definition. In this case, only EUR3 will be charged. For example:

A parcel containing 5 identical T-shirts

Item description	HS tariff code	Country of origin	Quantity	Fee
Cotton t-shirt	610910	Fiji	5	EUR3
TOTAL				EUR3

Both the EUR150 duty exemption and EUR3 flat-rate customs duty fee will apply to all 27 member states of the EU.

Landed Costs

Landed costs can be paid as either Delivered at Place (DAP) and Delivered Duty Paid (DDP).

Delivered at Place (DAP): This is when the recipient or receiver at the destination pays all landed costs (i.e. duties, taxes and fees).

Delivered Duty Paid (DDP): This is when the sender pays all landed costs (i.e. duties, taxes and fees) prior to the parcel arriving at the destination.

Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS): A central electronic portal businesses can use to pay VAT on the sale of imported goods to the EU.

EU member states	DAP non-IOSS¹	DAP with own IOSS number¹
Austria	Yes	No
Belgium	Yes	No
Bulgaria	Yes	Yes
Croatia	Yes	Yes
Cyprus	Yes	Yes
Czechia	Yes	Yes
Denmark	Yes	No
Estonia	Yes	Yes
Finland	Yes	No
France	Yes	No
Germany	Yes (until 31 August)	No
Greece	Yes	Yes
Hungary	Yes	Yes
Ireland	Yes	Yes
Italy	Yes	Yes
Latvia	Yes	Yes
Lithuania	Yes	Yes
Luxembourg	Yes	No
Malta	Yes	No
Netherlands	Yes	Yes
Poland	Yes	Yes
Portugal	Yes	No
Romania	Yes	Yes
Slovakia	Yes	Yes
Slovenia	Yes	Yes
Spain	Yes (only until October 2026)	Yes (only until October 2026)
Sweden	Yes	Yes (only for a transition period - end date TBC)

Please note: at this time, EU customs authorities have advised that refunds will not be issued on landed costs (i.e. duties, taxes and fees) paid for shipments that are undeliverable or returned to sender.

There are different rules that apply for personal sending and business shipping. Refer to the relevant section below for details.

Changes to import duties, taxes and fees of postal services to Canada and the United Kingdom

From 1 July 2026, Zonos® will also support the calculation, collection and remittance of duties, taxes and fees (“landed costs”) for shipments to Canads and the United Kingdom. The duty-free thresholds for gifts remain the same for these countries:

Canada: CAD60
The UK: no VAT or customs duty for gifts valued up to GBP39; no customs duty but VAT applies for gifts valued between GBP39 and GBP135

Refer to the sections below to learn how these landed costs will be collected and remitted.

Personal sending

Duty-free threshold for sending personal gifts to private individuals in the EU

There is a duty-free threshold of EUR45 for the personal sending of gifts up to a certain value from a private individual to another private individual.

No duty, fee or tax payment is required for gifts valued up to EUR45 for EU destinations. Standard customs duties, taxes and fees will apply for parcels valued above EUR45.

Goods sent by a business to a private individual will not be considered a gift, even if meant as a freebie, prize or promotional item, for example a promotional package for influencers.

Sending items over the gift duty-free threshold or non-gifts

Items that exceed the duty-free threshold for the EU, Canada, Norway and the UK being sent from the Post Office will incur duties, taxes and fees (landed costs). These landed costs will be remitted to the relevant overseas customs authorities at the item’s destination.

If the destination country has mandated who is responsible for payment of these landed costs, the appropriate option will be automatically pre-selected.

If not, the sender has 3 options (except for International Courier services, which will only have the ‘Receiver pays’ option). Please note that only the ‘Receiver pays’ option is currently available, and the other 2 options will be available from 16 July 2026.

Option 1: Sender pays (if allowed by the destination country) – available in-store from 16 July 2026

At the Post Office, our team member will ask you who will pay the import duties, taxes and fees for your parcel. If you select the ‘Sender pays’ option, you will need to pay these landed costs on behalf of your parcel’s recipient.

The landed cost amount will be calculated per item being sent. A subtotal of all the applicable duties, taxes and fees for your parcel, along with the postage cost and any administration and handling fees that may apply, will be displayed on the POS (POST+ terminal screen) and your receipt.

Please note that you will be paying the landed cost in AUD. The calculated landed cost figures shown, inclusive of foreign currency conversion based on current exchange rates, foreign duties, taxes and fees, are calculated using system rounding to two decimal places. The total amount charged may differ slightly from the precise amount assessed by customs authorities due to rounding.

Option 2: Sender pays using their own Tax ID (if allowed by the destination country) – available in-store from 16 July 2026

If you are a small business, MyPost Business customer, or a marketplace hosted business through platforms like eBay or Etsy, or are already familiar with import tax requirements when sending to the EU, Canada, Norway or the UK, you may already have a registered tax ID specific to these destinations.

If so, provide your destination-specific registered tax ID to our Post Office team member, who will input it into the importer’s reference field.

You can also provide your tax ID in our Online Customs Declaration form before heading into the Post Office.

By providing a destination-specific registered tax ID, you confirm that the landed costs have been paid elsewhere, and will not need to pay again when lodging your item at the Post Office. Only postage costs will be required - duties, taxes and fees or administration and handling fees will not apply.

You do not need to have a destination-specific registered tax ID to send at the Post Office.

Option 3: Receiver pays (available in-store for all EU destinations)

This option allows you to complete your lodgement transaction the same way you currently do when sending overseas. Your intended recipient will need to pay their local customs authority any landed costs associated with the parcel in order to receive it. With this option, applicable duties, taxes, fees and the administration and handling fee may be displayed as $0.00. This does not necessarily mean that there are no landed costs, but rather that there are no costs for you to pay as the sender, other than postage.

From 1 July 2026, MyPost customers will have 3 options to pay the landed costs (depending on the destination country and your shipment value).

Option 1: Receiver – Pay at destination. The person receiving the goods pays the final import duties, taxes and fees before clearance by the destination's local customs authority.

Option 2: Sender – Pay using a Zonos® Verified Account. To use this option, a Zonos® Verified Account linked to a MyPost account is required. Choosing this option enables Zonos® to remit the final import duties, taxes and fees to customs authorities on your behalf.

If you have already registered for a Zonos® Verified Account to ship to the US, you will not need to register again to use this option when shipping to the EU.

If you do not have a Zonos® Verified Account, learn how to set one up for free.

If you select this option without having an account, you will be unable to complete your transaction.

Option 3: Sender – Pay using tax ID. This option allows the sender to prepay VAT only using applicable tax schemes, including Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) for eligible EU shipments. Any applicable customs duties, import fees, or other government charges remain payable by the recipient or by the sender by external arrangements.

If this option is selected, the Importer Reference Number field will be made mandatory. You will find this field in the new Landed costs section instead of the Additional information section.

Update: 6 July 2026 - Please note, this option is temporarily unavailable when sending to the EU destinations and remains under review pending confirmations from relevant customs authorities. Several EU customs authorities have advised that DAP postal items sent with an IOSS number will likely be returned if the applicable customs duty has not been remitted in addition to VAT.² Please continue to check this webpage for updates.

MyPost will also introduce an estimated landed cost calculation panel on the right-hand side of the screen under the Order summary panel and Save order button. This will show the estimated landed duties, landed taxes and landed fees for your parcel order based on the information you have provided. Please note that the landed costs provided are estimates only and have not been included in the order price. They are not paid through your Australia Post MyPost account.

Other changes to MyPost for sending internationally

Country of Origin (COO) will now be mandatory when filling out your customs declaration and generating your shipment. For clarity, Country of Origin refers to the country of manufacture.

HS tariff code look up. We have made improvements so when you look up your item description, the returned suggestions are more descriptive and comprehensive to better comply with customs requirements.

Parcel assessment and lodgement via the Post Office If you wish to use either of the Sender pays landed costs options via the Post Office, we recommend that you first create your order online using your MyPost account and pay the landed costs through your Zonos account, as these options will not be available in-store until 16 July 2026.

By doing this, you can continue to have your orders accepted for lodgement through article scanning as this is currently available in-store.

Business shipping (MyPost Business and Contract customers)

We are upgrading our international sending platforms to ensure ongoing compliance with changing global regulations to support a smoother and more transparent shipping experience.

From 1 July, enhancements will be introduced for businesses shipping items to the EU, Canada and the UK.

What’s changing

Gifts option removed from reason for export. Business customers creating shipments via MyPost Business (MPB), Parcel Send and APIs will no longer be able to select Gift as a reason for export. Goods sent by a business will not be considered a gift, even if meant as a freebie, prize or promotional item, for example a promotional package for influencers.

All items, regardless of value, being sent to the EU, Canada or the UK will now require duties, taxes and fees.Business customers will have 3 options when nominating who will pay these landed costs in MPB, Parcel Send and via the APIs.

There are different changes that apply specifically to different platforms. Please refer to the relevant section below for further information.

From 1 July 2026, MPB customers sending to the EU, Canada, Norway or the UK will have 3 options for nominating who will pay the landed costs.

These options depend on the destination country and your provided shipment values.

Option 1: Receiver – Pay at destination. The person receiving the goods pays the final import duties, taxes and fees before clearance by the destination's local customs authority.

Option 2: Sender – Pay using a Zonos® Verified Account. To use this option, a Zonos® Verified Account linked to a MyPost Business account is required. Choosing this option enables Zonos® to remit the final import duties, taxes and fees to customs authorities on your behalf.

If you have already registered for a Zonos® Verified Account to ship to the US, you will not need to register again to use this option when shipping to the EU.

If you do not have a Zonos® Verified Account, learn how to set one up for free.

If you select this option without having an account, you will be unable to complete your transaction.

If this option is selected, the Importer Reference Number field will be made mandatory. You will find this field in the new Landed costs section instead of the Additional information section.

MPB will also introduce an estimated landed cost calculation panel on the right-hand side of the screen under the Order summary panel and Save order button. This feature will show the estimated landed duties, landed taxes and landed fees for your parcel order based on the information you have provided. Please note that the landed costs provided are estimates only and have not been included in the order price. They are not paid through your Australia Post MPB account.

Other changes to MPB for sending internationally

Country of Origin (COO) will now be mandatory when filling out your customs declaration and generating your shipment. For clarity, Country of Origin refers to the country of manufacture.

HS tariff code look up. We have made improvements so when you look up your item description, the returned suggestions are more descriptive and comprehensive to better align with compliance with customs requirements.

CSV templates updated. If you create orders using a CSV file upload, please note that the CSV template has been updated to include the landed cost payer field options outlined above.

Parcel assessment and lodgement at the Post Office as an MPB customer

If you wish to use either of the Sender pays landed costs options via the Post Office, we recommend that you first create your order online using your online MPB account and pay the landed costs through your Zonos account, as these options will not be available through in-store until 16 July 2026.

By doing this, you can continue to have your orders accepted for lodgement through article scanning as this is currently available in-store.

There are no changes to the online platform for eParcel. For customers sending via the eParcel online platform, generating shipments and labels will continue to follow current processes. The 3 options for nominating who will pay landed costs will not be enabled in the eParcel online platform. All shipments generated via this platform will only allow for the receiver to pay the costs.

If you’re an eParcel customer and you want to pay the landed costs on behalf of your recipient, you must log in and use your Parcel Send account to generate shipments. Please contact your Account Manager for your Parcel Send log in information if needed.

From 1 July 2026, Parcel Send customers sending to the EU, Canada, Norway or the UK will have 3 options for nominating who will pay the landed costs.

These options depend on the destination country and your provided shipment values.

Option 1: Receiver – Pay at destination. The person receiving the goods pays the final import duties, taxes and fees before clearance by the destination's local customs authority.

Option 2: Sender – Pay using a Zonos® Verified Account. To use this option, a Zonos® Verified Account linked to your Australia Post account and intended lodgement MLID is required. Choosing this option enables Zonos® to remit the final import duties, taxes and fees to customs authorities on your behalf.

If you have already registered for a Zonos® Verified Account to ship to the US, you will not need to register again to use this option when shipping to the EU, Canada, Norway or the UK.

If you do not have a Zonos® Verified Account, learn how to set one up for free.

If you select this option without having an account, you will be unable to complete your transaction.

If this option is selected, the Importer Reference Number field will be made mandatory. You will find this field in the new Landed costs section instead of the Additional information section.

Freight Quote tool updated. The Freight Quote tool in Parcel has been updated to now also include and show the estimated landed fees in addition to estimated landed duties and estimated landed taxes. Please note that the landed costs provided are estimates only and have not been included in the order price. They are not paid through your Australia Post MPB account.

Other changes to Parcel Send for sending internationally

Country of Origin (COO) will now be mandatory when filling out your customs declaration and generating your shipment. For clarity, Country of Origin refers to the country of manufacture.

CSV templates updated. If you create orders using a CSV file upload, please note that the CSV template has been updated to include the landed cost payer field options outlined above.

From 1 July 2026, there will be changes made to the Shipping and Tracking API.

API customers sending to internationally will have 3 options for nominating who will pay the landed costs via the new optional landed_costs_payer_field.

These options depend on the destination country and your provided shipment values.

Option 1: RECEIVER_PAYS (Receiver – Pay at destination). The person receiving the goods pays the final import duties, taxes and fees before clearance by the destination's local customs authority.

If you do not choose an option for the landed_costs_payer field, it will automatically default to RECEIVER_PAYS for all destinations, except for shipments to the US valued under USD800.

Option 2: SENDER_PAYS_ZONOS (Sender – Pay using a Zonos® Verified Account). To use this option, a Zonos® Verified Account linked to your Australia Post account and intended lodgement MLID is required. Choosing this option enables Zonos® to remit the final import duties, taxes and fees to customs authorities on your behalf.

If you have already registered for a Zonos® Verified Account to ship to the US, you will not need to register again to use this option when shipping to the EU, Canada, Norway or the UK.

If this option is selected, the Importer Reference Number field will automatically populate with a Zonos® registered Tax ID. This is not the same as your Zonos® Verified Account. Please do not try to change or replace the Zonos® registered Tax ID provided.

If you do not have a Zonos® Verified Account, learn how to set one up for free.

If you do not choose an option for the landed_costs_payer field when shipping to the US, it will automatically default to SENDER_PAYS_ZONOS if the value of your shipment is below USD800.

If you select this option without having an account, you will be unable to complete your transaction.

Option 3: SENDER_PAYS_TAX_ID (Sender – Pay using tax ID). This option allows the sender to prepay VAT only using applicable tax schemes, including Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) for eligible EU shipments. Any applicable customs duties, import fees, or other government charges remain payable by the recipient or by the sender by external arrangements.

If this option is selected, the Importer Reference Number field will be made mandatory. You will find this field in the new Landed costs section instead of the Additional information section.

Please note that from 1 July 2026 to 29 September 2026, the following two fields will remain optional in the Shipping and Tracking APIs. They will be mandatory for all destinations after this period:

hs_code
country_of_origin

Although these fields are optional, we strongly recommend you complete them to avoid rejections and returns from customs authorities.

From 1 July 2026, API users wanting to call into the Shipping and Tracking services APIs will need to remap their fields from V1 to V3, due to the following changes:

V1 – before 1 July 2026

V3 – from 1 July 2026

Export Classification Tool (one call) + Combined Export Tool (one call)

Export Classification Tool (one call) + Prohibited and Restricted (one call) + Landed Cost (one call) +

Country Metadata (one call)

There are also request and response changes for the V3 Shipping and Tracking services listed under V3.

Export Classification Tool

In addition to the existing item_description request, API V3 users will now be required to provide a value input for the mandatory field request, ship_to_country.

The value input for ship_to_country should be in the form of a 2-alpha ISO country code, for example, GB for the United Kingdom.

Prohibited and Restricted

The following 3 request fields will now be mandatory when calling into the Prohibited and Restricted Shipping and Tracking service API:

country_of_origin
ship_to_country
hs_code (this field has been renamed from what was previously known as commodity_uuid)

Landed Cost

The Landed Cost Shipping and Tracking service API call has 3 components:

destination
items (this has been renamed from what was previously known as Products)
shipping

Component 1 - destination:

API V3 users will now be required to provide a value input for the mandatory field request, country_code. This request field has been renamed from what used to be known as destination_country.

The value input for country_code should be in the form of a 2-alpha ISO country code, for example, GB for the United Kingdom.

2 new conditional fields under Destination:

The following 2 fields are conditional request fields. These 2 fields only become mandatory based on the destination country selected per the customs requirements of that destination.

postal_code
administrative_area_code

An example for when the administrative_area_code request field will require a value input is if you are sending to Canada. The value input should be provided in the form of a 2-alpha ISO code, for example BC for addresses within the province of British Columbia.

You will be required to provide the province and/or territories for the address in Canada you are sending to for landed cost calculation purposes as Canada follows a regional tax logic.

Component 2 - Items:

There are 4 mandatory field requests:

product_id is a new field. This refers to the identifier for the item and will be returned in the response with the item breakdown of landed costs.
hs_code (this field has been renamed from what was previously known as commodity_uuid)
amount (this refers to the value of 1 item and was renamed from what was previously known as unit_value).
country_of_origin (this field has been renamed from what was previously known as originating_country)
quantity

Component 3 – Shipping:

There are 2 mandatory request fields:

product_classification
amount

There is 1 new request field, a value input is not mandatory for this field:

service_level_code (you may choose to provide a value input to indicate the sending service you are selecting, australia_post.international_express or australia_post.international_standard. If you do not provide an input value, this request field will automatically default to australia_post.international_standard.

Country Metadata

The Country Metadata endpoint will return the valid landed_costs_payer field options available based on the destination country and relevant shipment values.

The mandatory fields to get an accurate response are:

country_code for the country where the goods are being sent
classification of the goods (e.g. DOCUMENT, RETURN, SALE_OF_GOODS, SAMPLE, OTHER)
item_hs_codes include a list of all HS tariff codes in the shipment in this array
item_value_total is the total value in AUD of all of the items in the shipment

Further details about these changes can be found at the Development Centre.

Frequently asked questions

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden

1. Create a Zonos Verified Account

Use the sign-up link provided by Australia Post and register for an account.
Provide the correct Australia Post ID for your account:
- MyPost: Provide your Australia Post customer number (APCN).
  - For MyPost account holders, your APCN is a unique 10-digit number associated with your MyPost account.
  - This number can be found in your MyPost dashboard by selecting your Profile icon (your initials at the top right of the screen) and selecting “My profile” from the menu. Your APCN is on the Profile page under Personal details.
You must ensure that you provide your Australia Post ID accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

You must ensure that you provide your details accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

2. Add a payment method

Zonos® will invoice you directly for CBP duty payments and Zonos® handling and admin processing fees.

3. Link your Zonos® account to your Australia Post account

Once you have set up your Zonos® Verified Account, it will automatically be linked to your Australia Post account.

4. Prepare your shipments

Once your registration is complete and your Zonos® Account is verified, you can ship with Australia Post following your usual process.

1. Create a Zonos Verified Account

Use the sign-up link provided by Australia Post and register for an account.
Provide the correct Australia Post ID for your account:
- MyPost Business: Provide your Australia Post Business customer number (APBCN).
  - For MyPost Business (MPB) account holders, your Australia Post Business Customer Number (APBCN) is a unique 8-digit number associated with your MPB account.
  - This can be found on your MPB dashboard on the Send & Save page under your unique QR Code.
You must ensure that you provide your Australia Post ID accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

You must ensure that you provide your business details accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

2. Add a payment method

Zonos® will invoice you directly for CBP duty payments and Zonos® handling and admin processing fees.

3. Link your Zonos® account to your Australia Post account

Once you have set up your Zonos® Verified Account, it will automatically be linked to your Australia Post account.

4. Prepare your shipments

Once your registration is complete and your Zonos® Account is verified, you can ship with Australia Post following your usual process.

1. Create a Zonos Verified Account

Use the sign-up link provided by Australia Post and register for an account.
Provide the correct Australia Post ID for your account:
- Business Parcel Contract customers: Provide your Merchant Location ID (MLID).
  - For business contract customers, you can find your Merchant Location ID (MLID), a 3–5 character alphanumeric ID in your Parcel Send portal or Shipping API configuration.
  - If unsure, contact your Australia Post account manager.
You must ensure that you provide your MLID accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted from each location you intend to lodge from. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

You must ensure that you provide your details accurately to Zonos® so your shipments can be correctly remitted. Inaccurate or incomplete data may result in processing delays.

2. Add a payment method

Zonos® will invoice you directly for CBP duty payments and Zonos® handling and admin processing fees.

3. Link your Zonos® account to your Australia Post account

Once you have set up your Zonos® Verified Account, it will automatically be linked to your Australia Post account.

4. Prepare your shipments

Once your registration is complete and your Zonos® Account is verified, you can ship with Australia Post following your usual process.

Yes, letters and documents of no commercial value are exempt from landed costs.

Country of origin refers to the country of manufacture.

A HS tariff code (Harmonised System) is a standardised numerical identifier used to classify physical goods and commodities during international import and export. You must use either a 6-digit, 8-digit or 10-digit HS tariff code. It is your responsibility to ensure that the correct HS tariff number/s is used.

¹ This information is subject to change and is accurate at the time of publishing (updated: 24 July 2026).

² Customs requirements and assessment of duties, taxes, fees, and import eligibility are determined by the destination country's customs authorities and may change without notice. Clearance and delivery cannot be guaranteed and remain subject to customs approval by the destination country.