Packages/Shipments

Purchases and shipments from countries in the European Union

If you purchase goods within the European Union, no import duty is due. However, special rules

exist on VAT and excise duties. Information on this subject can be obtained from the”Contacts

“website of this site.

Purchases and shipments from countries outside the European Union

Shipments without duty relief

General

When you order goods from a supplier established outside the European Union, you must pay import duties, VAT and, where applicable, excise duties at the moment of importation into the European Union.

The fact that the order was made via the Internet or otherwise (mail, telephone, fax, etc.) does not alter the import procedure. The amount of taxes depends on the type of goods you import.

Taxes can be found on the TARLUX website.

Customs value and taxable amount

For the calculation of import duties, the Customs Administration uses the concept of customs value.

This is, in general, the value established on the basis of the invoice. For the Customs Administration, all goods have a value.

In the absence of an invoice, the Customs Administration uses – in order to determine this value – the valuation methods provided for by EU legislation.

The customs value, together with import duties, excise duties and other charges, is the taxable basis for VAT. This is the amount on which VAT will be calculated by the Customs Administration.

*** NEW ***

Following the implementation of the “VAT e-commerce package”, the VAT exemption up to EUR 22 disappears with 1 July 2021.

Consequently, VAT will be levied in all cases and on all consignments from a third country.

An electronic customs declaration becomes mandatory for each importation of goods from a country outside the European Union, regardless of the value of the consignment.

This electronic customs declaration may be submitted either through the PLDA IETA clearance system or in the LUCCS Import phase 1 clearance system. It should be noted that the normal customs declaration with reduced dataset (H7) covered by LUCCS automatically results in the collection of import VAT at the applicable standard rate (17 %), if no IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) VAT identification number is entered in the customs declaration lodged.

A. For goods which do not exceed EUR 150 and are purchased outside the EU, three cases may arise:

Case 1

If the goods were purchased outside the EU from a supplier who is registered with the IOSS, the Luxembourg consumer

pays VAT (standard rate 17 %, intermediate rate 14 %, reduced rate 6 % or super-reduced rate 3 %) to the supplier at the time of his online order and
additional customs clearance fees may be charged by the carrier of the goods.

Condition: the IOSS VAT identification number is mandatory on the electronic customs declaration.

Case 2

If the supplier is not registered at the IOSS, the Luxembourg consumer

pays VAT to the Customs Administration in Luxembourg at the time of importation and
additional customs clearance fees may be charged by the carrier of the goods.

Case 3

If the supplier is registered at the IOSS, but does not provide his IOSS VAT identification number at the time the goods are sent, the Luxembourg consumer

will pay VAT to the supplier at the time of its online order,
will have to repay VAT to the Customs Administration in Luxembourg at the time of importation and
additional customs clearance fees may be charged by the carrier of the goods.

The IOSS VAT identification number must therefore be identifiable when the electronic customs declaration is lodged for the purposes of checking and validating the IOSS scheme. In the absence of this data, VAT must again be collected by the Customs Administration as described in the scenario under Case 2.

Even if the IOSS VAT identification number of the supplier was provided after the goods have been cleared, VAT refund by the Customs Administration will not be possible and the Luxembourg consumer will have to apply for VAT repayment from his supplier.

B. For goods which exceed EUR 150 and are purchased outside the EU, only one case may arise:

Single case

The supplier is not allowed to collect VAT and the Luxembourg consumer

pays VAT to the Customs Administration in Luxembourg at the time of importation, and, where applicable, customs duties and excise duties, and
additional customs clearance fees may be charged by the carrier of the goods.

Further information on VAT chargeability from 1 July 2021 on all cross-border e-commerce consignments with third countries or territories can be found at the following links:

https://pfi.public.lu/fr/professionnel/tva/oss/oss2.html

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/vat-e-commerce_en

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/vat-e-commerce_fr

Shipments with duty relief *

When you import shipments of negligible value, you can benefit from duty relief. This means that you will not be subject to the payment of import duties such as customs duties.

By means of a consignment of negligible value, the Customs Administration means a consignment consisting of goods the intrinsic value of which does not exceed, in total, by consignment:

EUR 150 for import duties.

This consignment must always be dispatched directly from a country outside the customs territory of the European Union to a consignee established in the European Union, in this case to Luxembourg.

Two situations are therefore possible:

Where the total value of the consignment does not exceed EUR 150, the exemption from import duties shall be granted, but VAT shall remain due on the total value of the consignment, without prejudice to the possible application of other exemption provisions. *
Where the value of the consignment exceeds EUR 150, import duties and VAT must be paid out of the total value of the consignment, without prejudice to the possible application of other exemption provisions. *

* Alcoholic products, perfumes and toilet water, tobacco and tobacco products are excluded from this exemption.

Consignments from private individuals to private individuals

General

When a family member or friend established outside the European Union sends you a parcel, even if it is a gift, you must pay import duties, VAT and, where applicable, excise duties.

However, under certain conditions, for these shipments, you may be exempt from these duties and taxes.

The exemption generally applies to goods contained in consignments which are dispatched from a country outside the European Union by a private individual to another private individual. The consignee of such consignments must be established in Luxembourg.

In order to qualify for the exemption, the consignment must meet the following conditions:

Conditions

The import must be devoid of any commercial character

“Imports devoid of any commercial character” means “non-commercial” imports of consignments which:

have an occasional character;
contain exclusively goods reserved for the personal or family use of the consignees (the nature or quantity of such goods must not reflect any commercial intention);
shall be sent by the sender to the consignee without payment of any kind.

The value of the consignment shall not exceed EUR 45

The value is limited to a total amount of EUR 45 per consignment and to certain quantity limits for specific goods (hereinafter ‘Quantitative limits for certain goods’).

Where the total value of a consignment exceeds EUR 45, VAT shall be paid on the total value of the consignment.

Quantitative limits for certain goods are respected

In addition to the value threshold, quantitative limits apply per consignment to certain products (even if their value is less than EUR 45). The following is a complete table of eligible duty-free quantities for goods subject to a quantitative limit:

Tobacco products:

50 cigarettes and
25 cigarillos (cigars weighing not more than 3 grams each) and
10 cigars and
50 grams of smoking tobacco
or a proportional assortment of these different products

Alcohols and alcoholic beverages:

distilled beverages and spirit drinks of an alcoholic strength by volume of more than 22 % vol; undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80 % vol or more: 1 liter or
distilled beverages and spirit drinks, aperitifs based on wine or alcohol, tafia, sake or similar beverages of an alcoholic strength of 22 % vol or less; sparkling wines, liqueur wines: 1 litre; or a proportional assortment of these different products, and
still wines: 2 litres

Perfumes:

50 grams, or
toilet water: 0.25 liter.

PLEASE NOTE:

In the case of import duties, the payment of duties is only due on goods exceeding quantitative thresholds and limits, i.e. below the thresholds and limits, the exemption from import duties shall continue to apply.

On the other hand, VAT and excise duties are payable on all goods as soon as the quantitative thresholds and limits are exceeded.

Possible costs for your shipments

The Customs Administration regularly faces many questions about the costs of shipments.

When you import goods via a postal service or an express courier company (Post, UPS, DHL,...), customs formalities must, of course, be completed. Therefore, Post, the express courier company or any other customs representative who completes these customs formalities for you, can – in addition to import duties, excise duties and VAT – charge you for its service provided.

It should be noted that the Customs Administration has nothing to do with these so-called ‘customs presentation costs’, ‘customs charges’, ‘clearance charges’, ‘customs agency charges’ or ‘other charges’. Post, the express courier company, your customs representative and/or your carrier collect these charges on their own behalf.

In order to be able to draw up the customs declaration, Post, the express courier company or your customs representative may ask you for certain information, such as:

invoice, proof of payment, purchase contract, etc.
the contents of the package intended for you,
the value of the goods contained in the package and
any other information necessary to complete the customs formalities.

Post, the express courier company or your customs representative can send you an invoice for:

import duties, VAT and excise duties (these amounts depend on the value, quantity and nature of the goods you import and are the only amounts that are determined and collected by the Customs Administration);
customs clearance fees (these are the costs that Post, the express courier company or your customs representative charge you for making a customs declaration with the Customs Administration)

Note:

Even without opening your parcel and checking by the Customs Administration, Post, the express courier company or your customs representative may apply for “customs presentation costs” on their own behalf;

processing costs;
the costs of other tasks that Post, the express courier company or your customs representative performs for you;

Other statements, such as “fund advances”, sometimes appear on the invoice of Post, the express courier company or your customs representative. It should be noted that the Customs Administration is not linked to these additional charges.

The Customs Administration is therefore not involved in determining the fees charged by Post, the express courier company or your customs representative. They determine these costs on a purely commercial basis.

Post and the express courier company must allow you the freedom to carry out the customs formalities (customs declaration), yourself or by your freely chosen customs representative. If you wish to draw up the customs declaration yourself, you must take into account that your lack of experience in customs clearance and/or technical knowledge may take you a lot of time before you properly complete these formalities.

The Customs Administration advises you to contact the traders listed at the bottom of the page for any information relating to the fees that may be applied for the completion of customs formalities.

Location of your shipment/parcels

The Customs Administration regularly faces requests for information on consignments from non-EU countries that have not arrived at their destination within the deadline, respectively “blocked by customs”.

These are usually goods you purchased via the Internet.

It is important to note that the Customs Administration does not have any information on the location of your shipment (postal packages or other parcels).

Only Post, the express courier company or your customs representative can tell you where your parcel is and when the customs formalities will be completed.

The Customs Administration does not have any information on this matter.

YOUR PARCEL IS ALWAYS AT POST, THE EXPRESS MAIL COMPANY OR YOUR CUSTOMS REPRESENTATIVE, NEVER AT THE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION!

In order to avoid a number of misunderstandings, the Customs Administration would invite you to first contact your supplier and/or sender before sending an email about your shipment to customs.

If Post, the express courier company or your customs representative have informed you that your shipment has been confiscated/seized by the Customs Administration, it may be that:

this is a case of an infringement (e.g.: narcotics or other prohibited products);
safety, health, economic and environmental rules apply;
an import licence is required to introduce/import goods into Luxembourg (for example: weapons,);
etc.

Please find below the telephone numbers of the contact persons you can contact to obtain all the information about your shipments from abroad: