If you shop on Shein, Temu or any other site based outside the EU, your orders are about to get more expensive starting tomorrow.
From July 1, new customs rules take effect across every EU member state, Greece included, for online purchases worth up to €150 from countries outside the bloc. A circular from Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), the country’s tax and customs authority, sets out how the charge will work. The bottom line: a €3 fee now applies to each separate type of item in a package bought online from China, the United States or any other non-EU country.
Here is what it means in practice.
The fee is per item, not per package
The €3 charge applies to each distinct type of product, not to the parcel as a whole. So an order containing a book, a notebook and a pen counts as three items and is charged €9, plus the applicable VAT and any other charges.
Buying multiples of the same thing is treated differently. Two identical notebooks count as a single item and are charged €3 in total. The number of pieces does not matter as long as they are the same product.
Who pays it
You do not pay customs directly. The charge is settled with the customs authorities by the import declarant, which may be the platform, the seller, the shipping company or their authorized representative, depending on how the shipment is handled. In practice, expect it to show up in your total at checkout or on delivery.
If you return something
If you send a product back because you changed your mind or withdrew from the purchase, the €3 charge is not refunded. A refund is possible only in the cases customs law allows, such as when a product arrives defective or does not match the terms of the order.
VAT does not change
The new fee does not alter how VAT works. When the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) system is used, VAT is still paid at checkout on the platform. Under the Special Arrangements or the standard regime, it is paid when the item clears customs.
How long it lasts
The charge is a transitional measure running through June 30, 2028. From July 1, 2028, the standard customs system takes over, with the import duty set by each product’s customs category, regardless of its value or how it was bought.
One more thing to keep in mind: the rules apply only to goods coming from outside the EU. Purchases bought and shipped within Greece, or from another EU member state, are not affected.
Source: OT.gr
