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GuíaDémarches🇫🇷 France
Receiving a parcel in France from abroad: customs, VAT and fees in 2026
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You receive a DHL message: "Your parcel is held at customs, payment of €28.40 required for delivery." You did not buy anything that justifies that sum — it is just your mother sending you a few bags of spices and two sweaters from Tangier. Others get a La Poste notification for a €12 Aliexpress parcel with €6 demanded on delivery. Why? And how do you pay the right price, no more no less?
Since 1 July 2021, the European Union has abolished the €22 VAT exemption for parcels coming from third countries. In 2026, any goods imported from outside the EU are taxed from the first euro. The rules are not arbitrary, but the shipping mode, carrier and content type (family gift vs e-commerce purchase) drastically change the final bill. This universal guide is for every diaspora — Chinese, Moroccan, Algerian, Brazilian, Vietnamese, Senegalese, Ivorian, American — and unpacks what you really pay in 2026.
Three thresholds determine what you pay. They do not change with the carrier.
Special case — alcohol, perfume, coffee (over 500g), tobacco: always taxed, even as a gift, even under €45. A perfume from Casablanca or a baijiu bottle from Shanghai never benefit from the gift exemption.
Here are three 2026 examples, common across diasporas:
Yuxin, Chinese student in Lyon, orders €80 of clothing on 1688
Aïssa, Senegalese in Bordeaux, receives a parcel from her aunt in Dakar: 6 boubous + tea + 1 mortar (declared value €200, marked "gift")
Lucas, Brazilian in Marseille, his mother sends a €35 parcel (chocolates, 2 books) marked "gift"
The most expensive mistake: under-declaring the value. You try €30 on a €250 parcel → random check, fraud penalty up to twice the duty evaded + possible seizure. Customs opens, photographs and compares with market prices. Do not lie.
Carriers charge their own clearance fee (presenting to customs, paying on your behalf, admin file). That is where the bill explodes.
Golden rule for family parcels: ask your relative to ship via the regular national post (China Post, Poste Maroc, Correios in Brazil, Vietnam Post, Poste Sénégal) — it arrives via La Poste France and costs much less than DHL or FedEx. Slower, but €20 saved.
Since 2021, large non-EU platforms must collect French VAT at checkout through the IOSS system (Import One-Stop Shop) for orders ≤ €150. Concretely:
Tip: bundling several small Aliexpress orders into a single shipment above €150 loses the duty exemption. Better to place several separate orders ≤ €150 (but watch out for customs refusal if shipments are obviously "split" related).
When DHL, FedEx or Chronopost asks for payment, they send a secure link (DHL On Demand Delivery, FedEx My Delivery). For La Poste, you receive a delivery slip with a code to use on laposte.fr/dedouanement-international.
What the recipient prepares:
Traps to avoid:
| Situation | VAT? | Duty? | Approximate total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family gift, value ≤ €45, La Poste | No | No | €0 |
| Family gift €100, DHL | Yes (€20) | Yes if textile (€12) | ~ €50 with DHL fees |
| Shein €80, IOSS | Already paid | No (< €150) | €0 on delivery |
| Aliexpress 1688, €200 | Yes (€40) | Yes (~€24) | ~ €80 + fees |
| US gift > €45 (Amazon US, friend sender) | Yes | Variable | €30–60 by value |
| Wine bottle from Morocco, €30 | Yes (alcohol) | Yes (excise) | €15–20 |
On Pionra, the Chinese, Moroccan and Algerian communities share their parcel tips: which shipping mode is most reliable from Casablanca, how to bundle with a relative's trip, where to find trusted forwarders. The Vietnamese, Brazilian, Senegalese and Portuguese communities regularly post recent experiences (actual fees paid, delays observed, services to avoid).
Not automatically. Customs may treat it as split shipping if frequency is high and the content commercial. Officially the €45 threshold is assessed per shipment. In practice, 2 to 3 parcels a year from the same sender go through fine. Ten a month → likely inspection. Stay reasonable.
The phone is treated as goods regardless of the "gift" label. VAT 20% on €600 = €120, customs duty on consumer electronics ~0% (phones), DHL/FedEx fee €20–25. Total ~ €145. Customs may also ask for proof of origin (invoice, screenshot) to verify the declared value.
Risky. If customs checks (and they do more and more with AI, 3D scanners), you will be taxed on the real value (sometimes reconstructed from the product link), plus a fine. Better ask the seller to include the actual invoice. Many Aliexpress sellers now offer IOSS shipping where VAT is already paid at checkout.
Either it was declared "merchandise" instead of "gift" by the sender, or the value exceeds €45, or the content includes always-taxed items (perfume, alcohol, coffee over 500g, tobacco). Check the CN22/CN23 declaration stuck on the parcel.
Personal effects from a move benefit from a full exemption (VAT + duty) under conditions: you must have lived outside the EU for over 12 months, import within 12 months of arrival, and provide a detailed inventory + sworn statement + change-of-residence certificate. Form 753 to fill in. Three common customs offices: Roissy, Marseille, Le Havre. Savings: potentially several hundred euros.
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You receive a DHL message: "Your parcel is held at customs, payment of €28.40 required for delivery." You did not buy anything that justifies that sum — it is just your mother sending you a few bags of spices and two sweaters from Tangier. Others get a La Poste notification for a €12 Aliexpress parcel with €6 demanded on delivery. Why? And how do you pay the right price, no more no less?
Since 1 July 2021, the European Union has abolished the €22 VAT exemption for parcels coming from third countries. In 2026, any goods imported from outside the EU are taxed from the first euro. The rules are not arbitrary, but the shipping mode, carrier and content type (family gift vs e-commerce purchase) drastically change the final bill. This universal guide is for every diaspora — Chinese, Moroccan, Algerian, Brazilian, Vietnamese, Senegalese, Ivorian, American — and unpacks what you really pay in 2026.
Three thresholds determine what you pay. They do not change with the carrier.
Special case — alcohol, perfume, coffee (over 500g), tobacco: always taxed, even as a gift, even under €45. A perfume from Casablanca or a baijiu bottle from Shanghai never benefit from the gift exemption.
Here are three 2026 examples, common across diasporas:
Yuxin, Chinese student in Lyon, orders €80 of clothing on 1688
Aïssa, Senegalese in Bordeaux, receives a parcel from her aunt in Dakar: 6 boubous + tea + 1 mortar (declared value €200, marked "gift")
Lucas, Brazilian in Marseille, his mother sends a €35 parcel (chocolates, 2 books) marked "gift"
The most expensive mistake: under-declaring the value. You try €30 on a €250 parcel → random check, fraud penalty up to twice the duty evaded + possible seizure. Customs opens, photographs and compares with market prices. Do not lie.
Carriers charge their own clearance fee (presenting to customs, paying on your behalf, admin file). That is where the bill explodes.
Golden rule for family parcels: ask your relative to ship via the regular national post (China Post, Poste Maroc, Correios in Brazil, Vietnam Post, Poste Sénégal) — it arrives via La Poste France and costs much less than DHL or FedEx. Slower, but €20 saved.
Since 2021, large non-EU platforms must collect French VAT at checkout through the IOSS system (Import One-Stop Shop) for orders ≤ €150. Concretely:
Tip: bundling several small Aliexpress orders into a single shipment above €150 loses the duty exemption. Better to place several separate orders ≤ €150 (but watch out for customs refusal if shipments are obviously "split" related).
When DHL, FedEx or Chronopost asks for payment, they send a secure link (DHL On Demand Delivery, FedEx My Delivery). For La Poste, you receive a delivery slip with a code to use on laposte.fr/dedouanement-international.
What the recipient prepares:
Traps to avoid:
| Situation | VAT? | Duty? | Approximate total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family gift, value ≤ €45, La Poste | No | No | €0 |
| Family gift €100, DHL | Yes (€20) | Yes if textile (€12) | ~ €50 with DHL fees |
| Shein €80, IOSS | Already paid | No (< €150) | €0 on delivery |
| Aliexpress 1688, €200 | Yes (€40) | Yes (~€24) | ~ €80 + fees |
| US gift > €45 (Amazon US, friend sender) | Yes | Variable | €30–60 by value |
| Wine bottle from Morocco, €30 | Yes (alcohol) | Yes (excise) | €15–20 |
On Pionra, the Chinese, Moroccan and Algerian communities share their parcel tips: which shipping mode is most reliable from Casablanca, how to bundle with a relative's trip, where to find trusted forwarders. The Vietnamese, , and communities regularly post recent experiences (actual fees paid, delays observed, services to avoid).
Not automatically. Customs may treat it as split shipping if frequency is high and the content commercial. Officially the €45 threshold is assessed per shipment. In practice, 2 to 3 parcels a year from the same sender go through fine. Ten a month → likely inspection. Stay reasonable.
The phone is treated as goods regardless of the "gift" label. VAT 20% on €600 = €120, customs duty on consumer electronics ~0% (phones), DHL/FedEx fee €20–25. Total ~ €145. Customs may also ask for proof of origin (invoice, screenshot) to verify the declared value.
Risky. If customs checks (and they do more and more with AI, 3D scanners), you will be taxed on the real value (sometimes reconstructed from the product link), plus a fine. Better ask the seller to include the actual invoice. Many Aliexpress sellers now offer IOSS shipping where VAT is already paid at checkout.
Either it was declared "merchandise" instead of "gift" by the sender, or the value exceeds €45, or the content includes always-taxed items (perfume, alcohol, coffee over 500g, tobacco). Check the CN22/CN23 declaration stuck on the parcel.
Personal effects from a move benefit from a full exemption (VAT + duty) under conditions: you must have lived outside the EU for over 12 months, import within 12 months of arrival, and provide a detailed inventory + sworn statement + change-of-residence certificate. Form 753 to fill in. Three common customs offices: Roissy, Marseille, Le Havre. Savings: potentially several hundred euros.