Before you begin
What you need to calculate customs charges
Check where the individual parcel ships from. Ordering from the UK? This tool covers Great Britain, meaning England, Scotland or Wales. Northern Ireland is treated differently.
Use the amounts you can see in the final basket. Report what the shop says about VAT and customs duty rather than trying to interpret the tax rules yourself.
If checkout shows an exact customs or import-duty amount, enter it. Otherwise the calculator uses the current €3 charge for each different kind of item.
Choose the checkout currency. Pounds, dollars, yuan, yen, Canadian dollars and Australian dollars are converted using Revenue's current monthly customs rate.
Count kinds of item rather than units. Five identical T-shirts are one kind.
An Post's current €6.95 administration fee is included automatically where the answers leave an import charge for An Post to collect.
A basket mixing goods at genuinely different Irish VAT rates is outside this focused version.
Reading the answer
Understanding your delivered import cost
Checkout price is what the shop is expected to take, including customs duty when checkout says it is collected there.
Due before delivery is what may be requested by An Post or the courier later. It separates VAT, customs duty and any known handling fee from the shop's price.
If you cannot tell whether Irish VAT is included, the result puts both complete totals first and keeps the tax table behind a full-breakdown control.
The optional Irish/EU comparison is about delivered price only. It does not compare delivery time, returns, warranty support or seller reliability.
Boundaries
Assumptions and limitations
Working assumptions
- The order is an ordinary personal online purchase dispatched from outside the EU, with goods worth €150 or less before Irish VAT.
- The item and delivery amounts are entered in one checkout currency. Foreign amounts are converted to euro with Revenue's September 2026 customs rates before the Irish calculation is applied.
- A price reported as including Irish VAT is treated as VAT-inclusive at the selected rate; a price reported as tax due later is treated as the amount before Irish VAT.
- If checkout shows an exact customs-duty amount, that amount is used. Otherwise the temporary duty is €3 for each different kind of item.
- An Post's €6.95 fee is added when An Post has a VAT or customs payment left to handle. A known fee for another courier is treated as its final amount and is not taxed again.
- The ordinary import route includes the customs duty in the VAT base, whether the duty was collected at checkout or before delivery.
Where to be careful
- Orders above €150 use normal Customs Duty rules based on classification, origin and TARIC. This calculator deliberately does not invent that rate.
- Business imports, gifts, alcohol, tobacco, other excise goods, restricted goods and specialist declarations are excluded.
- Preferential-origin exceptions, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, mixed VAT-rate baskets and retailer-specific all-in pricing are not modelled.
- Revenue's customs exchange rate is not necessarily the rate your bank or card uses. Card foreign-exchange fees are excluded.
- The built-in foreign-exchange figures are valid for September 2026 and must be refreshed for a later month.
- An Post says its administration fee may apply where it handles customs charges. Other couriers set their own fees, which remain unknown unless you enter one.
- The €3 regime is temporary and currently intended to operate until 1 July 2028. No successor formula is assumed.
Worked example
The same question, answered end to end
A €79 order of one kind of item, free delivery, where VAT is unclear, customs duty is due later and the courier fee is not known.
What was entered
- Dispatched from outside the EU with €79 of goods and free delivery.
- One kind of item, so the current customs duty is €3.
- Checkout does not collect the duty and it is unclear whether Irish VAT is already included.
- The other courier's handling fee is not known, so it stays outside the figures.
How it is worked out
If Irish VAT is already in the €79, that tax is not charged again. The €3 duty is still due, giving €82.00 before any courier fee.
If VAT is due on import, the €3 duty is added to the €79 before VAT is calculated.
Irish VAT at 23% on €82 is €18.86, so €3 duty plus €18.86 VAT is due before delivery.
That route gives €100.86 before any unknown courier fee.
What the tool returns
- VAT/tax included at checkout
- €82.00
- VAT/tax due on import
- €100.86
- Checkout price
- €79.00
- Due before delivery
- €3.00–€21.86
Common questions
Questions about this tool
Do I have to work out the VAT or customs duty myself?
No. Enter what checkout shows and choose what it says about VAT and customs duty. If the duty amount is shown, enter it; otherwise the calculator applies the current €3 per different kind of item.
How do I tell whether Irish VAT is included?
Set Ireland as the delivery address and read the final basket. Look for Irish VAT, tax, import fees or wording such as no additional charges on delivery. If you still cannot tell, choose “I cannot tell” and the calculator shows both VAT outcomes.
Can the €3 customs duty be charged at checkout?
Yes. Revenue says some websites collect it at the point of sale and others leave it for the delivery company to collect before delivery. Tell the calculator what the shop says so it puts the charge on the correct side of checkout.
How much are customs charges from the UK to Ireland?
For goods sent from Great Britain, meaning England, Scotland or Wales, the low-value route can include €3 per different kind of item, Irish VAT if it was not collected at checkout, and a delivery-company fee. Northern Ireland is treated differently and is outside this calculator.
What about Amazon UK, eBay, Temu or Shein?
The marketplace name does not decide the charge. What matters is where that individual parcel ships from and whether Irish VAT and customs duty are already included at checkout. Different sellers on one marketplace can produce different answers.
A British shop says its price includes VAT. Is that Irish VAT?
Not necessarily. A British VAT-inclusive price may contain UK VAT. Set Ireland as the delivery address and check whether the final basket names Irish VAT, import tax or an all-charges-paid delivery promise.
Will the courier ask me for money before delivery?
It may. If VAT or customs duty was not collected by the shop, An Post or the courier can require payment before releasing the parcel. The result separates that possible later payment from the checkout price.
Can I enter pounds, dollars or another currency?
Yes. Choose the checkout currency and enter the figures exactly as shown. The calculator converts supported currencies with Revenue's current monthly customs rate. Your bank or card rate and any foreign-exchange fee may differ.
Does the €3 charge apply to every item I buy?
It applies per different product type, not per physical unit. Five identical cotton T-shirts count as one; a cotton T-shirt and a watch count as two. If checkout shows an exact duty amount, the calculator uses that instead.
Does postage count towards the €150 limit?
Separately stated postage and insurance do not determine the intrinsic goods value used for this limit. They still enter the import VAT calculation.
What if the shop looks Irish or European?
Check where the parcel ships from. The website domain, currency and seller address do not by themselves show whether a customs import takes place.
What is IOSS?
The Import One Stop Shop lets a seller or platform collect Irish VAT during checkout for qualifying low-value imports. It is why some baskets include Irish VAT and some leave it to be collected on import. You do not need to know the term to use the calculator.
When does the An Post €6.95 fee apply?
An Post says the fee may be added where it handles, collects and processes customs charges. This calculator includes €6.95 when your answers leave VAT or customs duty for An Post to collect, and does not add it when the shop has settled both.
What happens above €150?
Normal Customs Duty can depend on tariff classification, origin and other rules. Use Revenue's guidance and TARIC because this focused calculator will not invent a customs rate.
What if different products have different VAT rates?
This version calculates one VAT rate for the whole basket. A genuinely mixed-rate parcel needs the proper item-by-item customs calculation.
Will I get the customs charge back if I return the item?
If you simply change your mind and return a low-value import, Revenue says the temporary €3 Customs Duty is not refunded by Customs authorities. Check the shop's returns terms before ordering.