Italy's Small Parcel Tax: What the €2 Fee Means for E-Commerce Under EU Customs Reform

2026 Edition · 7 min read · By the ShippyPro Team

Italy's small parcel tax was supposed to be live from 1 January 2026. Then it was delayed to 15 March. Then again. Now, with 1 July fast approaching, Italy is in a race against its own legislation — caught between a national fee that went ahead of schedule and an EU customs reform framework that has since caught up with it. For any e-commerce business shipping low-value goods into Italy, or any Italian logistics operator handling non-EU imports, the situation is genuinely complex: two separate charges (a €2 Italian handling fee and a €3 EU-level tariff) risk landing on the same parcels at the same time, with no definitive clarity on how they interact. This guide cuts through the noise.

What is Italy's Small Parcel Tax?

Italy's small parcel tax is a national €2 customs handling fee applied to all parcels imported from outside the European Union with an intrinsic value of €150 or less. It was introduced via Italy's fiscal decree and was originally intended to take effect from 1 January 2026.

A few things make it unusual compared to standard customs charges:

• It applies to both B2C and B2B shipments, unlike many customs thresholds that differentiate between consumer and commercial imports.
• It is a flat administrative fee, not a percentage of goods value. Whether the parcel contains a €5 phone case or a €140 piece of clothing, the charge is the same.
• It was designed to raise revenue estimated at €122.5 million in 2026, scaling to €245 million per year from 2027 onwards, figures calculated on the assumption the fee would begin yielding results from the second half of 2026.

Why was it delayed from January 2026?

The original January 2026 start date was pushed back because Italy's fiscal decree needed time for monitoring and system readiness, the fee required no upfront funding, which is precisely what allowed legislators to bring the effective start date forward to 1 July when a new political deadline emerged. Italy's Ministry of Economy formally confirmed the delay on 12 March 2026, just before the original first reporting deadline of 15 March, the date that would have captured January and February imports.

What counts as a "small parcel" under Italian rules?

The Italian fee applies to any parcel from a non-EU country with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150. This is the same threshold as the existing EU customs duty exemption for low-value goods, the threshold that the broader EU customs reform is also targeting for abolition. The practical definition covers the vast majority of individual consumer orders placed on platforms like Temu, Shein, AliExpress, and similar marketplaces sourcing from China and other non-EU origins.

How Italy's Fee Connects to EU Customs Reform

Understanding Italy's €2 charge in isolation misses the bigger picture. It is one piece of a multi-layered EU customs reform that has been building since 2023 and is accelerating through 2026 and 2027. To make sense of the current situation, it helps to understand the two distinct EU-level changes that are running in parallel.

The EU €3 interim customs tariff (1 July 2026)

The EU Council formally approved an interim €3 customs levy on low-value e-commerce imports on 11 February 2026, following an agreement reached in December 2025. This charge takes effect from 1 July 2026 and works differently from Italy's flat fee: it is applied per tariff subheading within a parcel, not per parcel as a whole.

To use the example from the EU Council's official press release: if a parcel valued under €150 contains two silk blouses and one woollen blouse, tariffs apply to both fabric categories — amounting to €6 in total, not a single €3 charge. The mechanics matter for any business calculating landed costs on mixed-category shipments.

The scale of the problem this is designed to address is significant. According to the European Commission, the number of small parcels arriving in the EU doubled every year since 2022, reaching 4.6 billion in 2024, with 91% originating from China.

The EU €2 customs handling fee (1 November 2026)

Separately, the EU Council and Parliament reached an agreement in spring 2026 on a harmonised €2 administrative handling fee to be levied by customs authorities on small parcels sold online across all member states. This is scheduled for 1 November 2026.

This is the charge that creates Italy's core dilemma: Italy introduced its own €2 fee nationally — essentially anticipating what Brussels was going to mandate anyway — but did so before the EU framework was finalised, creating a potential overlap rather than a smooth handover.

The €3+€2 Problem: When Two Levies Collide

The heart of the current tension is straightforward: Italy set its own start date for a €2 fee without knowing precisely when Brussels would land on the same amount via a harmonised EU mechanism. The result, if both charges apply simultaneously from 1 July, is a combined €5 surcharge on every qualifying non-EU parcel entering Italy — before any standard customs duties are calculated.

The risk of the uncoordinated scenario is not just financial — it is logistical. As Il Sole 24 Ore reported in June 2026, starting four months ahead of the EU-wide schedule risks diverting parcel traffic away from Italian logistics hubs to other EU member states, a damaging outcome for Italian warehousing and fulfilment infrastructure at a moment when Italy has been building capacity to handle Asia-origin e-commerce volumes.

Who It Affects and When

The practical impact varies significantly depending on your position in the supply chain. Here is a breakdown of the affected parties and what they need to be tracking.

Non-EU sellers shipping directly to Italian consumers

If you are a seller based outside the EU — in China, the US, the UK, or elsewhere — shipping directly to Italian consumers, the landed cost of every order under €150 is about to increase. Whether by €2, €3, or the combined €5 depends on the legislative outcome in the coming weeks. This needs to factor into your pricing, your checkout cost display, and potentially your minimum order thresholds.

EU-based merchants using non-EU fulfilment or sourcing

EU merchants who dropship from non-EU suppliers, or who import stock from China to Italian warehouses for domestic distribution, are caught by the B2B scope of Italy's national fee — a detail that distinguishes it from most EU-level consumer protection-oriented thresholds. If your goods are physically imported into Italy from a non-EU origin, the fee applies regardless of whether the end customer is a consumer or a business.

Italian logistics operators and customs agents

For fulfilment centres, postal operators, express carriers, and customs brokers operating in Italy, the operational complexity of processing two overlapping frameworks simultaneously is significant. Systems need to correctly apply the right charge (or combination of charges), handle the rebate mechanism, and adapt to any last-minute legislative changes before 1 July.

Don't let new import fees catch your shipping costs off guard.

ShippyPro connects you to 190+ carriers and gives you full visibility over your shipments into Italy and across the EU — so you can adapt your logistics before regulations change your margins.

What Other EU Countries Are Doing: Italy Is Not Alone

Italy's situation is notable, but it is not unique. Several EU member states moved to introduce national small parcel charges ahead of the harmonised EU framework — with varying degrees of success and timing.

France: approved February 2026

France approved its own version of the €2 customs fee on 2 February 2026, making it one of the first EU member states to formally legislate a national charge. The French approach has been watched closely by Italy as a reference point, though France's timing relative to the EU-level decisions has also drawn scrutiny from Brussels.

Belgium and Romania: also in motion

Belgium has been in the process of introducing its own equivalent charge, while Romania has already introduced its fee — making it the only EU member state to have a fully operational national small parcel charge as of mid-2026. Romania's experience provides some operational data on processing volumes and revenue yield, though its import volumes are significantly lower than Italy's or France's.

The broader pattern: member states acting unilaterally

The underlying dynamic is a familiar one in EU regulatory history: individual member states, frustrated with the pace of Brussels-level harmonisation and motivated by the revenue potential, move ahead with national measures — creating a patchwork of charges that differs by country of entry. This is exactly the fragmentation the EU's November 2026 harmonised fee is designed to resolve. Until then, e-commerce operators shipping to multiple EU markets need to track each market's status individually.

Operational Impact for E-Commerce Shipping

Beyond the regulatory mechanics, what does this mean for the day-to-day running of an e-commerce shipping operation? There are several concrete areas where the Italy small parcel tax and EU customs reform create operational friction.

Landed cost calculations need updating

Any landed cost model that does not yet account for the EU €3 tariff (and potentially Italy's additional €2) is producing inaccurate numbers. For merchants selling low-value goods from non-EU origins into Italy, the per-order cost structure has materially changed. This affects pricing strategy, minimum order values, and the economics of free shipping offers.

ShippyPro's Optimizer gives you geo-localised, carrier-level performance analytics across your shipping operations, so you can identify where regulatory changes are compressing your margins most acutely and adjust your carrier mix accordingly.

Customs documentation and declaration accuracy

Both the Italian fee and the EU tariff rely on accurate customs declarations — particularly the declared intrinsic value of goods and the correct HS/tariff subheadings. The EU €3 tariff is applied per tariff subheading within a parcel, which means a mixed-category shipment requires accurate line-item classification, not just a total parcel value. Undervaluation — a practice historically common in high-volume low-value e-commerce flows — is now more consequential because it affects not just duty calculations but the new per-subheading tariffs.

ShippyPro's shipping platform supports automated customs document generation across 190+ carriers, helping to ensure declarations are consistent and complete before shipments reach customs.

Carrier selection and routing decisions

If Italy's €2 fee does activate alongside the EU €3 tariff on 1 July — even temporarily — some carriers and logistics operators may adjust their Italian routing to manage customs queue volumes. Operators who rely on Italian fulfilment hubs for EU distribution should monitor whether their carrier partners are adjusting entry-point routing in response to the regulatory situation.

The ShippyPro AI Shipping Automation engine lets you set trigger-condition-action rules that automatically route shipments based on destination, weight, value, and carrier availability — useful when the regulatory environment requires rapid adaptation without manual intervention on every order.

Customer communication and returns

For B2C shipments, additional import fees can trigger customer confusion and disputes — particularly when a buyer did not expect to pay anything at checkout and then receives a customs charge notification. ShippyPro's shipping notifications keep customers updated at key delivery milestones, reducing WISMO contacts during periods of customs delay. A clear returns process for items refused at customs also reduces friction and protects customer relationships during a period of regulatory transition.

How to Prepare Your Shipping Operations

Given the fluid legislative situation, the most useful approach right now is to prepare for multiple scenarios rather than locking in a single response. Here is a practical framework.

Scenario planning: three possible outcomes

Use automation to absorb regulatory change faster

One of the practical advantages of running your shipping operations through a platform like ShippyPro is the ability to update routing rules, carrier selection logic, and documentation templates centrally — rather than having to chase changes across individual carrier portals. The AI Shipping Automation module uses a trigger-condition-action model that lets you define rules such as: if destination is Italy and declared value is under €150, apply the correct customs handling workflow and flag for compliance review. This kind of logic is far easier to update in one place than across manual processes.

For merchants managing returns from Italian customers — which may increase if import fees lead to more refused parcels — ShippyPro Easy Return supports a streamlined returns workflow for orders originally shipped through the platform.

Track performance across carriers as the dust settles

As carriers and logistics operators respond to the new fee structure, performance metrics for Italian routes may shift — transit times could lengthen if customs processing volumes spike, and some carriers may change their routing through Italian hubs. The ShippyPro Optimizer provides geo-localised carrier performance analytics and interactive maps showing transit times and exceptions by region, giving you the data to make informed decisions about which carriers to prioritise for Italian shipments as the regulatory environment stabilises.

You can also use the Track and Trace dashboard to monitor live shipment status across all carriers in a single view — useful when customs delays start appearing as exceptions in your shipment data.

190+ carriers. One platform. Ready for whatever EU customs reform brings next.

ShippyPro helps e-commerce businesses manage multi-carrier shipping, automate customs documentation, and stay agile as regulations change across Italy and the EU. Try it free for 14 days.