The new temporary flat-rate tax of three euros on small parcels will come into force on 1 July in Belgium.
On Tuesday, at Liège Airport, the Ministry of Finance presented the calculation method that will be used to apply this tax to the parcels concerned.
This three-euro charge will be applied to each product category contained in a parcel passing through customs and originating from a country outside the European Union, provided that the value of the goods does not exceed 150 euros.
“This is a European tax that will be applied per tariff line, which means that a flat rate of three euros will be applied to each item in a different category. For example, if you have eight different items in your parcel ordered online, this tax will therefore amount to 24 euros in total. In some cases, the value of the tax will exceed the value of the parcel,” explained Jamil Soltani, head of customs at Liège Airport.
The tax will therefore not be calculated per parcel, but per customs tariff code. A consignment containing several types of items may therefore be subject to several flat-rate charges of three euros.
“This is the case if your parcel includes, for example, a pair of jeans and a pair of cotton trousers, which each correspond to two distinct tariff codes,” added Kristian Vanderwaeren, Director-General of Customs and Excise.
The perceived unfair competition from certain Chinese online retail platforms, fraudulent declarations, and the poor quality of some imported products are the main arguments put forward to justify this measure.
“At present, it is impossible for customs to inspect every parcel; the workload is simply too great. We are seeing a massive influx of goods ordered online, hence the desire to level the playing field with this three-euro tax,” admitted the Director-General.
Liège Airport has recorded 5.05 million declarations of e-commerce goods per day this year, representing a 67 per cent increase compared with 2025. Many of these parcels do not comply with regulations, pose security risks, are counterfeit or are undervalued.
“This tax is temporary and will apply until 2028, when definitive measures will be introduced at European level,” added Florence Angelici, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance.
“We will see on 1 July whether companies are making changes to their parcel flows to avoid paying this amount. The e-commerce sector is evolving very quickly and is highly agile,” the spokesperson concluded.
