Tax on shipping… because cross border eCommerce is not complicated enough!
There are points in conversations about cross-border complexity where sensible people stop nodding and start laughing. Not because the topic is funny, but because it has crossed the line from “complex” into “surely nobody expects this to work”. Tax on shipping is one of those points. When we first discovered the complexities of calculation tax on shipping for cross border eCommerce, our initial response was “Seriously..?” Unfortunately, it wasn’t a joke. Most merchants assume shipping is just… shipping. A cost. A line item. Something you add at checkout and maybe apply standard VAT to if you must. After all, you’re…
The €3 flat rate duty (pt.IV): merchants who adapt will win
After all has been said about the EU’s new flat rate (which isn’t actually flat rate) Customs Duty, merchants who use this regulation to drive innovation will benefit while competitors struggle. The real trick is to know what innovation to leverage. Or leave it to ePAL..!
The €3 flat rate duty (pt.III): same basket, different outcome. No accident
In this series of posts about the recently-announced €3 ‘flat rate’ #customs #duty for low value #IOSS consignments, we asked what an “item” really means. We then explored what happens when #eCommerce merchants get it wrong. Now, in pt.III we have the answer – and it’s not what you might think (that would be too obvious!).
The €3 duty isn’t applied to the basket or the products in it. It’s applied to how the products are declared. This means the same shipment can produce different outcomes. Read pt.III in the series of posts to get to the bottom of how…
The €3 flat rate duty (pt.II): what happens when you get it wrong?
In part one of this series we asked about the new €3 “flat rate” EU Customs Duty for low value cross-border imports , we asked a simple question: what is the €3 flat rate duty actually calculated against? It sounds trivial on the surface, but as we explored, the answer is far from clear. The previous post focused on the ambiguity at the heart of the rule. This one is about the consequences of that ambiguity, because once you move past the question of “€3 per what?”, a more important realisation appears. The €3 itself is only part of the…
The €3 flat rate duty (pt.I): the important unanswered question
In a short few months, the new EU flat €3 duty on low-value imports under €150 come into force for all consignments, as a pragmatic simplification to deal with billions of small parcels without turning every shipment into a full customs exercise.
This feels like a straightforward, predictable charge.
Easy to explain. Easy to implement. Until you ask one simple question: €3 per what, exactly?
Easy to get wrong… and that can have margin-killing consequences.
Nobody cares about compliance… until they have to
Most eCommerce merchants don’t spend much time thinking about compliance. Why would they?
Sales. Conversion rates. Customer acquisition. Margins. Growth. Those are the things that matter. Until one morning you discover that your international sales process stopped working.
From July 1st 2026, a major EU change means increased cross-border complexity. More rules. More customs considerations. Unexpected charges. Delays. Returns. Abandoned orders. Customer frustration.
Someone else’s problem is guaranteed to become your problem.
The uncomfortable truth is: customers don’t care why it happened. They only know the purchase experience broke (or, more precisely, the delivery process).
Customers expect eCommerce to…
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