Buying goods online for personal use

Overview

If you are buying goods online (or by mail order) you may have to pay duty and tax on them. This depends on from where you are buying the goods.

From 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom (UK) is no longer a member of the European Union (EU). If you buy goods from the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1 January 2021, you may incur charges.

Note

The VAT relief for consignments of €22 or less was removed from 1 July 2021.  You will find details of the changed rules and charges on the next page of this section.

The buyer is responsible for the accuracy of the customs declaration and for paying any duty and tax. Some websites do not include duty and tax in their prices.

Falsely marking an item as a gift or giving a false value on a customs declaration, is against the law. It may result in fees and penalties being applied.

Additional charges

Carriers apply additional charges for:

  • transport
  • insurance
  • and
  • a handling charge for processing goods through customs.

These charges are included in the customs value when applying the appropriate Customs Duty rate. You will find examples of these on the next page. These charges are collected with the duty and tax, but are not customs charges.

Charges can vary, so you will need to check them with the carrier directly. Revenue cannot intervene in disputes between the carrier and the consumer about charges levied by the carrier for the delivery of goods. Any queries about these charges should be directed to the carrier.

Next: Buying goods from outside the European Union (EU), including the UK