How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to Portugal

Portugal charges IVA at 23%, 13% or 6% on the mainland and at lower rates in Madeira and the Azores, on the order value with shipping, plus duty and other costs. Non-EU online purchases up to EUR 150 pay EUR 3 duty per product type, and all online purchases pay EUR 2 per product type since 1 November 2026, each with IVA on top. CTT adds EUR 7 or EUR 14 for clearance if these weren’t paid at checkout.

• 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: 23%. Mainland rates. The Azores charge 16%, 9% and 4%. Madeira charges 22%, 12% and 4%: the 4% has applied since 1 October 2024 under Regional Legislative Decree 6/2024/M, though the gov.pt guide still shows 5%. These apply to imports cleared in the regions. Your Europe excludes these regions.
• Reduced rates: 13%, 6%

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.

CTT says its customs clearance service price hasn't changed with the EU rules. The fee applies only where VAT, duty and the fee weren't paid at checkout, and IVA is added to it:

• Private purchases from businesses up to EUR 150: EUR 7 (not available under the special VAT regime)
• Private purchases from businesses from EUR 150 to EUR 1,000: EUR 14
• Private gifts up to EUR 45: exempt
• Private gifts from EUR 45 to EUR 1,000: EUR 14
• Business-to-business purchases up to EUR 1,000: EUR 14
• Above EUR 1,000, excise goods or restricted goods: basic plus complementary clearance

You have 20 days from the date customs in Portugal receives the item to start the clearance process, and CTT doesn't guarantee to finish within that time. Pay by MB Way, Multibanco or Payshop. CTT doesn't send payment details by email or SMS unless you chose Multibanco or Payshop in its portal, so treat any other message as suspect.

For commercial shipments, AT's STADA-Importação system takes the declaration, usually through a customs broker. AT is both customs and tax authority.

A CTT parcel normally has four parts: duty, the handling fee (Taxa de Manuseamento Aduaneiro), CTT's clearance service, and IVA charged on the total including that service.

Duty goes by addition (adição) on the declaration. A EUR 100 parcel with a shirt and a hat has two additions, so EUR 6. Three identical T-shirts are one. Above EUR 150, the fixed amount doesn't apply and the duty rate for the goods applies to the value, under the general regime, with the fee still added on.

A consignment means goods sent at once by the same sender to the same recipient under the same transport contract. Goods ordered and sent separately are separate consignments even if they arrive on the same day.

CTT doesn't charge its service fee if VAT, duty and the fee were already paid at checkout. To estimate your own, use the import duty calculator, and read de minimis for the EU history.

1. Classify the goods: use the HS code classifier and the Portuguese customs tariff.
2. Decide who’s buying: private or business, and CTT’s fee and the duty differ.
3. Check EUR 150: for the goods in that consignment.
4. Add duty: EUR 3 per product type for a private buyer up to EUR 150. For a business, or above EUR 150, the ad valorem rate.
5. Add the fee: EUR 2 per product type on online sales.
6. Add CTT’s service: EUR 7 or EUR 14, if it clears the parcel.
7. Apply IVA: on the order value, shipping, charges and CTT’s fee. Mainland rate unless the goods are cleared in Madeira or the Azores.

Camping stove and a lantern for a Lisbon buyer, no IOSS, two product types.

Two separate orders arriving on the same day, each a separate consignment, one product type each.

Both stay in the EUR 3 regime.

Spare parts to a business in Porto, tariff rate assumed at 4%, no EUR 3 and no handling fee.

• Using mainland rates for Funchal or Ponta Delgada: Madeira and Azores rates are lower where the goods are cleared there.
• Assuming 6% on a low-value parcel: Article 18(8) can put these at 23%.
• Letting the 20 days run: CTT’s clearance window starts when customs receives the item, not when you get the notice.
• Paying a link in an unexpected message: CTT sends payment details only if you chose Multibanco or Payshop in its portal.
• Applying EUR 3 to a business buyer: CTT is clear that the simplified duty doesn’t apply.

Regional rates. AT's circular 25045 of 6 December 2024 gives:

• Mainland: 23%, 13%, 6%
• Madeira: 22%, 12%, 4%
• Azores: 16%, 9%, 4%

Article 18 of the VAT Code lets the regional assemblies set these for supplies made there and for imports cleared there. Madeira's reduced rate has been 4% since 1 October 2024, under Regional Legislative Decree 6/2024/M. The gov.pt VAT guide, updated on 16 September 2026, still shows 5% for it, so don't rely on that line.

Paragraph 8. Article 18(8) taxes three kinds of import at the 23% standard rate, whatever the goods: imports under the special VAT declaration and payment regime, small parcels sent to individuals, and travellers' baggage subject to the flat-rate duty. So a List I product can still be taxed at 23% through those routes.

List I and List II. The 6% and 13% rates cover goods listed in annexes to the VAT Code.

Business purchases. CTT says business purchases up to EUR 150 are no longer exempt from duty and fall under the general ad valorem regime, not the EUR 3. IVA still applies.

Refunds. CTT says the handling fee isn't refundable, even after a return. This page is guidance, not tax advice. See IOSS and VAT for the EU side.