When your supplier sends a parcel from outside the UK straight to your customer, VAT is due on it, and sometimes customs duty too. Who pays, and when, depends on what the parcel is worth. Get it wrong and your customer can be asked to pay before the courier will hand the parcel over.
This guide explains how it works for parcels worth £135 or less and for parcels worth more, and the change the government announced in October 2026.
Parcels worth £135 or less
For goods sent from abroad straight to a customer in Great Britain, not through a marketplace, gov.uk says the VAT is charged when the customer pays, not when the parcel comes into the country, and the seller must charge it. The £135 is the value of the whole parcel, not each item in it, and it is the price you sell it for, not counting delivery or insurance shown separately.
If you sell through an online marketplace instead of your own website, the marketplace is responsible for the VAT. gov.uk also says the seller must keep full records, including VAT invoices, for six years.
gov.uk's page says the seller must register for VAT, but doesn't say whether that applies to a UK seller whose sales are under the £90,000 VAT line. If your shop sells parcels like this, check with HMRC before you start. Our guide to VAT covers the rest of it.
Parcels worth more than £135
Above £135, the normal import rules apply when the parcel arrives in Great Britain. Import VAT is charged on the whole value, including postage, packaging and insurance, and customs duty may be charged too, at a rate that depends on what the goods are and where they come from.
From your customer's side, gov.uk says they will have to pay the VAT to the delivery company before the parcel is delivered or when they collect it. Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier contacts them. If they don't pay, the parcel is usually held for about three weeks and then sent back.
Why this matters to your shop
A customer who is asked for money at the door often blames the shop they bought from, and may refuse the parcel. Some suppliers don't pay these charges in advance: Zendrop, for example, says it doesn't prepay import VAT, so your customers may be charged when the parcel arrives. Ask your supplier how they send parcels to the UK and who pays these charges before you sell their products, and say clearly on your website if customers may have to pay anything on delivery.
A supplier who sends from inside the UK doesn't bring the parcel through customs, so this doesn't arise. Our guide to UK suppliers or AliExpress compares the two.
The change that has been announced
In October 2026 the government announced that it will remove the £135 customs duty relief for parcels from abroad. It will start on a date the Treasury sets, by October 2028 at the latest. When it does, customs duty may be due on parcels worth £135 or less as well. Check gov.uk before you set your prices, because this may change what your products cost your customers.
