Sending Parcels to France - Small Parcel Tax

Log in to reply
S

Sparetoolparts

Free Member
Oct 26, 2015
573
52
42
  • #1
    I received this email yesterday from Royal Mail

    Anyone thoughts on this:

    Dear James,

    From 1st March 2026, the French Government is introducing a small parcel tax (Taxe sur les petits colis/ TPC) for packages with a value of €150 or below sent from outside the EU to France, Monaco, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion. This small parcel tax is applicable for items destined for France regardless of carrier.

    The new €2 tax applies to each classified HS code in your parcel (not per parcel). This is paid by the person responsible for import VAT. Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion have a €22 or below exemption for B2C/B2B items.

    Please note for France, Monaco, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion a 6 digit HS code (e.g 401199) is sufficient, for all other French overseas regions and departments at least 8 digits are required.

    This message from Royal Mail does not constitute either tax, financial or legal advice. Customers should familiarise themselves with these changes to understand how this impacts them and seek independent advice as required.

    How does this impact me?


    Scenario Who pays the €2 tax?
    Import One Stop Shop (IOSS)For senders exporting goods to France using the IOSS scheme, you must either be registered for IOSS in France or otherwise be recognised by the French tax authorities.
    • If you are already IOSS registered in France, the €2 tax will be collected together with VAT through your usual IOSS account.
    • If you are IOSS registered in an EU member state other than France, but have an existing relationship with the French tax authorities, you can subscribe to the “declare & pay” service for the small parcel tax and pay the €2 tax via your French tax account.
    • If you are neither IOSS registered in France, nor already have an existing relationship with the French tax authorities, you must register for the One Stop Shop (OSS), indicating that the registration is for small parcel tax purposes. Once your account is activated and you receive your identification code, you can subscribe to the “declare & pay” service and manage payment of the €2 tax through your French tax account.
    For more information about registering for the One Stop Shop please visit: The One-Stop Shop for Business Formalities and the National Business Register | INPI
    Postal Delivery Duties Paid (PDDP)For senders exporting goods to France using the PDDP Delivery Term, the €2 tax will be passed back to you through the standard invoicing process.

    For a reminder of the PDDP process, please refer to the relevant user guide:

    PDDP: See page 16 of the Royal Mail International Business User Guide
    https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2025-12/International-Business-User-Guide-January-2026.pdf
    Delivered Duties Unpaid (DDU)For senders exporting goods to France using the DDU Delivery Term the tax will be charged to the recipient of the parcel. Please note items will be treated as DDU if the requirements for alternative pre-paid Delivery Terms, such as those we have listed above, are not met.


    What this means for sending customers:

    Customers sending via IOSS or PDDP Delivery Terms sending parcels under €150 will incur an additional €2 per item classified by HS code in the parcel sent (in addition to the applicable VAT, Duty)

    Customers sending via DDU Delivery Term sending parcels under €150 will have the recipient incur an additional €2 per item classified by HS code in the parcel (in addition to the applicable VAT, Duty and handling charge)

    What this means for recipients:
    For items sent to France using the IOSS or PDDP Delivery Terms, the French recipient will not incur any additional fees at the time of delivery.

    For items under €150 sent to France using the DDU Delivery Term, La Poste (French postal service) will contact the recipient to arrange payment of any applicable taxes and duties. Please note that La Poste will also apply a service fee, which is payable directly to them by the recipient. Payment can be made online, although there is also the option to do so upon delivery, or at a local Post Office, at a higher cost.

    Further information:

    Royal Mail continues to work closely with La Poste and our French partners to ensure readiness for 1st March.

    For more information about the French small parcel tax please visit the portal of the French Directorate General of Customs and Indirect Taxes below:
    https://www.douane.gouv.fr/actualites/taxe-sur-les-petits-colis-point-dinformation-sur-sa-mise-en-oeuvre

    For more information on other EU wide changes, please visit our dedicated guidance page:
    www.royalmail.com/europeantradeinsights

    We continue exporting items to France as usual and will keep you informed with the latest service updates via our Incident Bulletins:
    www.parcelforce.com/service-updates
    www.royalmail.com/international-incident-bulletin

    Kind regards,

    Michael Irwin,
    Director of Export
    Royal Mail & Parcelforce Worldwide



    I am from Northern Ireland and am already setup with OSS and not IOSS, and I assume I'm sending Delivered Duty Unpaid, so I'm not really sure if/how this will affect me
     
    S

    SJTVG

    Free Member
    Mar 12, 2026
    2
    0
  • #4
    Sarah Evans said:
    Has anyone navigated this yet?
    We are IOSS registered but they aren't collecting the fee. We have currently taken off shipping to France.
    Click to expand...
    We are registered for IOSS in a different country to France and don't have existing relationship with the French tax authorities, so fall into option 3 of the IOSS scenario above. I followed the link to start the OSS registration process but it's really not very clear, and I can't see any mention of 'small parcel tax' so stopped.

    Waiting to see what happens!
     
    Upvote 0
    Log in to reply

    Latest Articles

    Top Bottom
    Community
    Articles
    Menu