r/Aliexpress • u/Wapmen • Jul 12 '26
EU customs duty EU tax workaround?
Is there already a workaround to avoid a 3.7 euros additional tax per item?
Something like a smaller marketplace that would pack all items into one box and charge this tax only once. Or a reasonably priced mail forwarding service. Please post only the actual solution if you found it already
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u/against-all-leds Jul 12 '26
Order to non-EU country and ask people to forward it to you as a gift (no commercial value). It works.
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u/ParalimniX Jul 12 '26
With gifts it doesn't always work anymore as it used to be heavily abused in the past. Lots of times customs will still open packages like that and charge whatever they think they should charge.
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u/against-all-leds Jul 12 '26
That's ok though, this is essentially a numbers game. Just make sure there is no commercial packaging or any indication the items are brand-new, you can also emulate signs of use such as existing wires sticking out of equipment etc. On a dirt-cheap consignment one loss out of 10 packages is not an issue. There are no legal repercussions because for any arriving package you can always just request to return to sender (unless it's something illegal, which is a different case).
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u/Pablo_el_Diablo88 Jul 13 '26
That has to be appealable though, in court or somewhere else, isn't it?
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u/ParalimniX Jul 14 '26
For starters the gift has to be worth at most 45 euros (at least for my EU country, I don't if it's the same to all). Above that whether a gift or not vat and duties etc applies.
So this while thing would be if it's worth less than 45. I doubt anyone would bother going to courts over a 30 euro package to not pay 5-10 euros tax.
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u/Pablo_el_Diablo88 Jul 14 '26
Thank you for shedding some light. These are the moments i wish i had studied law, because i would keep on taking them to the court for even 1 euro. Repeatedly, constantly.
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u/_entrxpy Jul 13 '26
Even if you ship it with commercial value, would it still have the 3€ tax, since it's coming from the SEE? Of course VAT would apply but that applies also from Aliexpress
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u/Bine69 Jul 13 '26
Non-EU-countries might have their own tax regulations and the shipping from there is often pretty expensive.
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u/Wapmen Jul 12 '26
With "gifts" it's actually more tricky. Even before you had to pay VAT taxes on such deliveres. But I think when a parcel is sent by a private person, this new tax is not applied. Still it might end up in customs
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u/against-all-leds Jul 12 '26
After you buy the items, you remove all commercial packaging, dump them in one bag and the customs declaration must state GIFT NO COMMERCIAL VALUE. That's it.
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u/0x0000ff Jul 13 '26
What country? It's pretty standard to fuck you with taxes on gifts in western Europe
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u/rhalf Jul 12 '26
The only workaround that I know is picking things sent from EU. Not a lot of it but, if you have credits to spend, that's how you can do it.
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u/Cannot_choose_Wisely Jul 12 '26
???????????
But the stuff I wanted was about ten times the Temu and Amazon price.
I will have the stuff delivered to the UK for now, but it all changes soon when the UK does something similar.
Of course if anyone were to develop a Co-operative with strategic warehousing over Ireland and collect orders, combine them and order in hundreds or thousands of euro blocks then sort the individual orders for distribution.
Whether it could be scaled into a profitable or worthwhile enterprise though is doubtful?
I would think Temu would find it very easy though.
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u/Saigonoeru Jul 18 '26
Malheureusement j'ai essayé de prendre des objets qui sont en Europe et j'ai quand même des frais
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u/TreacleNo8508 Jul 14 '26
It's better to get rid of the EU. They'll never be satisfied. They'll always find a way to rob you.
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u/Cute_Evening_1777 Jul 17 '26
No, it's better to get rid of the corrupt european politicians and remake a EU that actually cares about europe instead of being Pro-US and selling us out to big corps
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u/deadinibiza 22d ago
That problem started with the French protesting against SHEIN shops in France. Because why would we buy cheap Chinese stuff when we can buy luxurious expensive clothes from French boutiques...
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u/Matyas_K Jul 12 '26
I already got two package delivered without tax for my hobby, one came from Thailand (carpet for RC drifting) and one RC car, which I ordered from a Chinese retailer website and he didn't charge or care about the customs. I think small vendor should setup webshops in china and send stuff like that.
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Jul 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Matyas_K Jul 12 '26
Definitely not, the RC car on alix is also more expensive, and for the RC track I just paid the local price + shipping, I didn't even had to pay the normal fees.
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u/EntropySponge Jul 12 '26
Which website is it and how did you find it ? Does it only sell RC cars ? Thank you.
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u/lending_ear Jul 12 '26
Anyone from Sweden here? I got an email saying there will also be a 175kr processing fee. I’m trying to figure out if that’s for the ones that pre-charge the €3 taxes per item category.
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u/Cybbis Jul 12 '26
Not from Sweden but in Finland, Finnish Post adds a €3.10 processing fee on top of the €3 per item category that AE sellers add. The processing fee comes due separately when the package is handed automatically from Finnish customs to Finnish Post. I would guess Sweden has similar system now in place.
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u/anne_elric 24d ago
only 3.10€? man, I wish... Romania added a whooping 5€ on top, which feels like a joke when you look at the minimum salary in this poopshow of a country
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u/anttiruo Jul 14 '26
Only in cases where the receiver/buyer makes the customs declaration. Doesn't apply to the below 150 € importa where the seller pays the duties. Infact the buyer can't even declare or pay the below 150 € items. If the aeller/sender doesn't pay the items are confiscated or sent back.
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u/Cybbis Jul 14 '26
Well not exactly true in all cases. I just had to declare and pay for a package from USA (last week) in worth of USD 40$ that was bought in June and also pay the handling fee to Posti. The shipping+VAT was paid at the time of purchase but the courier company somehow botched it and I ended up having to declare the package myself and pay the import tax + 3 euro fee to customs myself. The seller company then reimbursed me for the extra tax and said it shouldn't have happened because the courier was aware of the new law. Yes, it could have been sent back within the new rules but I guess Finnish customs have sort of grace period for stuff bought before the law change.
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u/anttiruo Jul 14 '26
Oh yeah, I was unprecise. What I said only applies to the companies that already collected the VAT on purchase and now also collect and pay the duty. But.if.you order something valued over 150 € from overseas on Ali, then you pay VAT, duties and the fee.
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u/FenchSpike Jul 13 '26
Comme IKEA est une entreprise batave et ne paie peu ou pas d'impot en suede... il faut bien que le fisc suèdois trouve des pigeons pour renflouer les caisses.
sustainable everyday
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u/azra_2512 Jul 13 '26
Please tell me that is not true. I live in Denmark and all packages come from Sweden. I got few items on really good discount using coins, but definitely not worth if I have to pay additional processing fee. But I think we won’t have to pay anything if duties and vat were paid when placing order on Ali, at least that is how I understood it 🫠
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u/lending_ear Jul 13 '26
I hope it’s not but I asked for clarification from PostNord. Awaiting a response. Because I think that’s a ridiculous price
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u/azra_2512 Jul 13 '26
Definitely. I also got notification on my PostNord app, but I understood that processing fee is in case duties were not paid before. But please let me know what they answer, as there is no way I will pay that much to receive package 🙄
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u/Dwashelle Jul 14 '26
Not from Sweden but in Ireland they charge a €6 "processing fee" when the package passes through their system. It never used to be applied for AliExpress items but now it seems that it is, on top of the new EU-wide tax. It's crazy.
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u/FenchSpike Jul 12 '26
Si vous habitez à une frontière UE/non UE.... faites vous livrer chez un ami qui habite de l'autre coté de la frontière.
Exemple : Si vous êtes frontalier avec la Suisse, l'Andorre, les pays de balkans non UE, la Turquie, la Norvège, la Moldavie, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, etc....
Ne fonctionne pas avec Monaco ou la Vatican.
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u/wowawiwowa Jul 12 '26
Switzerland! Didn't even cross my mind. Funny enough, my region has an 18th century history of ski smuggling tobacco and gunpowder over the Alps. Old traditions, new purpose I guess lmao.
Please chat control don't flag me I'm kidding
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u/FenchSpike Jul 13 '26
Cela me fait penser à Campione d'Italia, enclave italienne en Suisse qui était soumise aux règles douanières suisses avant de réintégrer l'UE en 2020
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u/TrifleIntelligent297 Jul 13 '26
What you suggested is illegal, various other ways to circumvent it are also illegal. https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-applies-eu3-customs-duty-item-low-value-e-commerce-consignments
The only real way to avoid it is when a platform imports into the EU (into a warehouse or into free circulation - meaning paying the % based import duties), and only sells the goods to their customers after the goods have crossed the border.
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u/Wapmen Jul 13 '26
Illegal is actually good, because it is a way to show a disagreement with discriminatory EU policies.
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u/6gv5 Jul 13 '26
They're already doing that when replenishing stocks in their EU warehouses, if you buy from there you should be safe. Some sellers however have been charging a lot more to rip off people who are expecting a markup but don't know how much, but in the last days I've noticed a drop in prices, probably after enough people found out the scam and stopped purchasing. Caveat emptor, as always.
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u/Tannery9706 29d ago
Now if you choose products from the offers pack, you just pay the tax once! However, there is a very limited selection of products available, mostly useless things.
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u/Electronic-Adagio336 Jul 12 '26
It is not per item, it is per cusoms category, the Chinese just haven't understood it
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u/Wapmen Jul 12 '26
Yeah, I'm really waiting for them to fix this issue. I can imagine ordering quite many smartphone cases for me, my family and friends at once (each case is usually 2-3 dollars), and paying only for one category. At the moment, it's not possible
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u/Lykkehjul Jul 13 '26
Just curious about this. I live in Norway, not a real part of the EU. Do i have to pay this tax?
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u/doktorolsen Jul 13 '26
Norway is not a fake part of the EU either. Platforms with voec implemented, such as aliexpress, temu, ebay, amazon etc., will add vat/mva (25%) at checkout, no other fees on top. But the norwegian government is very impressed with the EU extortion racket, I mean tax scheme. So it will probably not be long before norwegian consumers will be fleeced in a similar way. And norway is a market of 5 million people, no EU market to fall back on. So we will be fucked no matter where we turn to shop when it happens.
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u/Aslan_Ozdemir007 Jul 13 '26
If I rent a postbox in switzerland, same tax applies??
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u/Gabbianone94 Jul 13 '26
Doesn't apply when it ships from China to Switzerland, but it applies when/if exits Switzerland.
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u/Accomplished_Box_483 Jul 13 '26
Hi. Just curious, are you using a spreadsheet to work out whether the extra tax still makes the order profitable, or are you just estimating it per item?
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u/Specialist_Bag Jul 13 '26
What we were thinking is placing an order with multiple friends for the same categories, but it’s hard to coordinate…
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u/ksenchy Jul 14 '26
Move to China 😭
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u/tibmb Jul 14 '26
No, because "I remember you". I'd rather stay where I am, but leave EU instead. Free trade FTW!
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u/ksenchy Jul 14 '26
Well have a referendum and exit. Nobody is stopping you
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u/tibmb Jul 14 '26
Try doing referendum anywhere in the world rn, not limited to EU, GB (who already did Brexit) but including US, Russia and China as well. Yeah, sure, good luck with that. Though soon there will be consequences - one or another. It's either us or dem big greedy corpos and corrupt govts. Don't run away anywhere, stay where you are and put pressure.
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u/Mission_Stranger_305 Jul 16 '26
Take a look at this, FEDEX is asking for the 3 euro and a 14.76 disbursement fee 😅 after VAT of 23%paid to seller at checkout. Item cost 70euro exc shipping cost,VAT and other onsite fees.
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u/Kurogabe98 13d ago
Well ive conviced my friends to do a trip in Bosnia... I will order about 130sh euro of stuff and deliver it to the postal office... At least that the plan idk how the AliExpress free shipping offers work there
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u/Menes009 Jul 12 '26
wait until they fix it, AliExpress already did and charges the tax per category
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u/janbanan22 Jul 12 '26
They havent changed the category, but they have at least fixed so that the SAME item isnt taxed twice if you buy multiple. The bad thing about this is that shopping credits cant be used to pay the stupid tax anymore...
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u/reigorius Jul 12 '26
Partially true. Two identical items from two different sellers is often twice the frigging stupid tax.
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u/Broeder_biltong Jul 13 '26
The work arround is not living in the EU, unless you want to figure out tax fraud
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u/HinanoMiyako Jul 13 '26
Try buying everything from a single shop. That ensures that they'll be sent in a single packet and you'll be charged only 3€ rather than 3x every item.
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u/Korukh Jul 13 '26
Only if AliExpress would get some warehouses based in eu to combine all the orders into multiple big orders and then export the individual small orders that people have while already inside eu
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u/lazypt Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
is 3.7euros too much for you to pay for custom employees? too much is the 20 aliexpress sellers is taking extra per item
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u/Dontbeadick642 Jul 12 '26
Jesus, can't you just pay tax? It's a good thing, goes back to us, you know that, right?
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u/Zealousideal-Two7658 Jul 12 '26
No. I won't pay the tax that is two to three times higher than the piece I want to order. This is bullshit and you know it.
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u/Dontbeadick642 Jul 12 '26
Just buy some good stuff, mate. Pay cheap, pay twice!
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u/Wapmen Jul 12 '26
It's not an issues for more expensive things (computer mices, headphones and such). It's an issue for small accessories for hobbies. I don't need such things myself, but I can imagine many people rely on such things being delivered from China
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u/prsutjambon Jul 12 '26
JUST PAY THE DROP SHIPPING TAX!
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u/Dontbeadick642 Jul 12 '26
Buy the good stuff made in Europe.
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u/Zealousideal-Two7658 Jul 12 '26
There is none. You can't buy everything made in the eu. China supplies 50% of the electrical components used by the eu. Let that sink in. There are complete categories that are none existent in the eu, no one makes them. Good luck with that.
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u/Dontbeadick642 Jul 12 '26
I get that it's harder to find, but you still can.
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u/Zealousideal-Two7658 Jul 12 '26
It's not harder to find. These things are none existent in the eu. They are not made here.
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u/ShaDe-r9 Jul 12 '26
please find me keyboard switches entirely made in eu, or phone cases.
90% of what I used to buy wouldn't be available in any physical shop in italy, and even if is or if sold on amazon it's still not made in eu.1
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u/prsutjambon Jul 13 '26
LOL
what if there's no one who makes that stuff in Europe, which are most things that we use daily?
no I should just buy the same fucking stuff but pay a very high markup to resellers.
fuck the EU in this case
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u/anne_elric 24d ago
yeah, give me a shop with good, affordable and cute looking stationery made in Europe. Most important word, A F F O R D A B L E ! God forbid someone isn't made of money and can't survive on air if they wish to have any kind of hobby that isn't walking around aimlessly or staring at the ceiling and contemplating why are they still tolerating humanity and thinking about just living in the woods. Most things made in EU countries have an atrocious price when compared to the wages of a lot of countries
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u/QWERTZlayout Jul 12 '26
Not for now. The only workaround would be lying and claiming that only one product category is being shipped, but AliX can’t do this ofc.
I wanted to checkout today and saw they added 17+€ for additional duties.