How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to the Netherlands

The Netherlands charges 21% VAT on most imports and 9% on books and magazines, on the goods, shipping, insurance, duty and handling fee together. Online orders from outside the EU up to and including EUR 150 pay EUR 3 duty per product category, and every online order pays a EUR 2 fee per category since 1 November 2026. Importers with an article 23 permit move the VAT to their VAT return instead of paying it at the border.

• 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: 21%. A 0% rate also exists for some goods and services.
• Reduced rates: 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.

Dutch e-commerce declarations go through DECO or DMS. Both charge the same EUR 3 per line, but only DMS can apply a preferential tariff rate. If you want the preferential rate under the special arrangement or a standard B2C declaration, you need DMS, and you pay that rate in place of the EUR 3. IOSS shipments can't claim it.

Declarants also need a customs guarantee and a deferred payment authorisation, and since 1 July 2026 the deferred payment authorisation must be in the declarant’s own name. The reference amount is one month of customs debt, secured in full, and AEO holders who meet the conditions can bring that down to 30%. On IOSS and special-arrangement declarations, the debt builds over the month and you get one payment notification. On standard DMS and DECO declarations it comes off your security balance directly, and if that runs out, you can't file until coverage is restored.

The handling fee is collected under code F00. A non-EU IOSS holder can only file through indirect representation. A customs broker is the usual route if you aren't set up for this.

Douane doesn't bill the buyer. The company filing the customs declaration owes the duty and the handling fee, then passes them on through the checkout price or the carrier's bill. A consumer will see this as "customs clearance charges", made up of VAT, duty, the fee and the carrier's handling costs.

Each line in the declaration counts once: a pencil and a bicycle bell are two lines, so EUR 6 in duty. Above EUR 150, the percentage rate for the product applies instead of the EUR 3, with the fee still added. The fee isn't part of the customs value, but VAT is charged on it.

The carrier sets its own handling charge, and Douane has no say in the amount. Ask PostNL, DHL or DPD for the current figure. For the sum on a specific parcel, try the import duty calculator. The duty calculation guide explains the method.

1. Classify: find the code with the HS code classifier. Different codes mean different declaration lines, and so more EUR 3 and EUR 2 charges.
2. Decide who’s buying: the fee and flat duty are for goods sold directly to a consumer. A business purchase falls outside them and pays the normal tariff.
3. Check the value: up to and including EUR 150, EUR 3 per product category. Above, the percentage rate on the customs value.
4. Add the fee: EUR 2 per line on any e-commerce sale to a consumer.
5. Add up the VAT base: goods, shipping, insurance, duty and fee.
6. Apply VAT: 21%, or 9% for books and magazines.
7. Add the carrier’s charge: a fixed amount set by each carrier.

Headlamp and two identical carabiners, no IOSS, two lines.

A book at 9%, no IOSS, one line.

Pumps to a Rotterdam importer with an article 23 permit, tariff rate assumed at 2.7%.

• Waiting for an invoice from Douane: it doesn’t send consumers an invoice or payment request. Those come from the declarant or the carrier.
• Filing in DECO when you want a preference: you need DMS, and the fee isn’t refunded for filing in the wrong system.
• Expecting money back on a low-value return: nothing comes back up to EUR 150 on VAT and duty, and the fee is gone at any value.
• Using someone else’s article 23 number: the goods must be for the permit holder, or the reverse charge doesn’t apply.
• Counting pieces: three types of goods is three lines, so a shirt, a sweater and a hat cost EUR 6 in fees alone.

Article 23 permit. With a vergunning artikel 23 you don't pay import VAT when goods arrive: it goes on your VAT return. In DMS you enter the article 23 code number in the VAT-liable party field, and it can only be used if the goods are for the holder of that number.

A foreign business can't apply itself. A general fiscal representative can apply on your behalf, or a limited fiscal representative can let you use their permit, in which case you don't need to register with the Belastingdienst. The representative reports and deducts the VAT on their return.

Returns. On parcels up to EUR 150, VAT and duty aren't refunded after a return, because the rules for these consignments changed on 1 July 2026. Above EUR 150, ask your carrier to request a refund of VAT and duty. The handling fee is never refunded: not for returns, refusals, failed deliveries or filing in DECO when DMS should have been used.

The end date. The EUR 3 runs until 1 July 2028. The EU background is in de minimis and IOSS and VAT. This page is guidance, not legal or customs advice.