How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to Austria

Austrian import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is due from the first cent at 20%, 13% or 10%, or the new 4.9% on selected basic foods since 1 July 2026. A non-EU online order up to EUR 150 also pays a flat EUR 3 duty per product, and every online order pays a EUR 2 fee per goods line since 1 November 2026. Above EUR 150, customs collects the VAT and the duty itself, at 0 to 17% depending on the goods, and IOSS can’t be used.

• Valuation basis: CIF
• Tax base: Customs value plus duties and other charges due on import, plus incidental costs such as transport and insurance to the first place of destination. Under IOSS, VAT is on the sale price at checkout.
• VAT standard rate: 20%. 4.9% applies from 1 July 2026 to selected basic foods, by Combined Nomenclature code. Other food stays at 10%. The Your Europe table, last checked 13 July 2026, does not yet show it.
• Reduced rates: 13%, 10%, 4.9%

IOSS: non-EU sellers and marketplaces may register in one member state, through an EU intermediary unless their country has a qualifying recovery agreement, to charge destination VAT on consignments up to EUR 150, excluding excise goods. Without IOSS, Special Arrangements or standard import VAT apply. From 1 November 2026 product identifiers are mandatory on these distance sales. Separately, a national parcel tax of EUR 2 per parcel has applied since 1 October 2026 to mail-order sellers with more than EUR 100 million of parcel sales in Austria. The seller owes it, and it isn't a customs charge.

• Paketsteuergesetz read in the Nationalrat text, not the gazette (BGBl. I Nr. 62/2026), which would not load.

Austria has one customs office, Zollamt Österreich, under the Federal Ministry of Finance. For a consignment over EUR 150 it always collects VAT and duty itself.

If documents are missing, the carrier contacts the recipient, and delivery waits. The BMF's list of what's acceptable is specific: order confirmations, invoices and proof of payment. Proforma invoices and documents not in Latin script are not accepted. A Chinese-language order page, for instance, won't clear the parcel.

A business customer may be asked for an EORI number by the carrier. New numbers come through self-registration on the customs portal, and existing registrations stay valid. See EORI numbers if you need one, and commercial invoices for what a good invoice contains. For regular commercial imports, compare a customs broker.

Customs runs an e-commerce hotline on +43 (0) 50 233 729, Monday to Friday, 6:00 to 22:00, or zollinfo@bmf.gv.at, with email preferred. Its answers aren't legally binding and it can't give shipment status, so tracking questions go to the carrier.

The duty test is simple: a distance sale up to EUR 150 pays EUR 3 per product, counted the way goods lines are counted on the declaration. Above EUR 150 the normal tariff rate applies, and the BMF puts those rates at between 0 and 17%. The EUR 2 Union handling fee works the same way as the flat duty and applies at any value. Declarants settle it through a deferred-payment account, under charge type F00.

VAT comes after that. EU rules set the base as the customs value, duties and other import charges, plus incidental costs to the first place of destination. For an IOSS parcel up to EUR 150, VAT was already charged at checkout, so no import VAT falls due. The IOSS number must reach customs. If it doesn't, you can end up paying VAT twice, and the BMF sends you back to the platform to sort it out.

The Post or courier pays the charges to customs up front and bills you with a service fee, which varies by provider. For a figure on your own goods, use the import duty calculator. Landed cost sets out everything that goes into the final price.

1. Find the tariff code: use the HS code classifier. For food, the Combined Nomenclature code also decides whether 4.9% or 10% applies.
2. Check the sale type: the flat duty needs a distance sale. The BMF says B2B and private-to-private shipments aren't affected, so a sale to a business pays the normal tariff.
3. Compare with EUR 150: at or under, EUR 3 per product. Over, the tariff rate of 0 to 17% on the customs value.
4. Add the handling fee: EUR 2 per goods line on any distance sale.
5. Choose the VAT rate: 20% standard, 13% or 10% where listed, 4.9% for goods in Annex 3 of the VAT Act.
6. Apply VAT: on the customs value, duty, fee and costs to the first destination.
7. Add the carrier: the service fee for paying customs on your behalf comes from the Post or courier, so ask for the current amount.

Desk lamp and a chair mat, no IOSS, two goods lines.

A basic food product listed in Annex 3, sold to a consumer, one goods line.

A jacket above EUR 150, one goods line, tariff rate assumed at 12%.

• Trusting an old VAT table: 4.9% only started on 1 July 2026 and tables, including the EU’s, can lag.
• Packing qualifying and other food together: a mixed supply loses the 4.9%.
• Sending a proforma invoice: the BMF doesn’t accept one, and delivery waits.
• Omitting the IOSS number: VAT can be charged twice. Fix it with the platform, not with customs or the carrier.
• Assuming an EU-platform order is domestic: if the goods ship from China, it’s an import, with VAT from the first cent plus the EUR 3.

Since 1 July 2026 Austria has charged 4.9% on selected basic foods, listed by Combined Nomenclature position in Annex 3 of the VAT Act. It covers supply and import of those goods, so it applies at the border. The Your Europe table, last checked on 13 July 2026, doesn't show it. The USP page gives no end date.

The limits matter for anyone importing food:

• Other food stays at 10%. The USP gives filled sausage rolls and cocoa drinks as examples that don't qualify.
• If a qualifying food is supplied together with a non-qualifying one, the reduced rate doesn't apply.
• Restaurant and catering sales are excluded.
• Check the code against Annex 3. A description like "pasta" or "butter" doesn't settle it.

Parcel tax. Since 1 October 2026 Austria has taxed parcel deliveries within the country at EUR 2 per parcel, or per order if the seller chooses, under the Paketsteuergesetz in the Budget Accompanying Act 2027-2028. It falls on mail-order sellers with more than EUR 100 million of parcel sales in Austria in the previous business year, and sellers outside the EU and EEA need a fiscal representative. It isn't a customs charge, but a large platform may pass it on.

Excise. Tobacco, perfume and alcohol pay excise whatever the value, and up to EUR 150 they pay the EUR 3 too. Gifts. Private gifts up to EUR 45 are exempt, within quantity limits for regulated goods.

The flat duty runs until 1 July 2028. Read de minimis and IOSS and VAT for the EU rule behind it. This is guidance, not legal or tax advice.