Europe Customs Duty

Key Takeaways

• “Europe” and “EU” are not the same thing on this site - this page covers the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, all of which sit outside the EU customs union and VAT area.
• Standard VAT ranges from 8.1% (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) to 25% (Norway) - nearly a threefold difference between the lowest and highest rate covered here.
• Low-value treatment varies just as widely: Norway exempts orders under NOK 3,000 via its VOEC scheme, the UK exempts under £135, Switzerland and Liechtenstein exempt when tax owed is under CHF 5 (~CHF 62 of goods), and Iceland has no general exemption at all.
• Switzerland (and, by extension, Liechtenstein) abolished customs duty on industrial goods entirely from 1 January 2024 - clothing, electronics, and most general merchandise now owe VAT only, with duty largely limited to food and agricultural imports.
• Liechtenstein is the outlier of the five: a 1923 treaty folds it into Switzerland’s customs territory, so it doesn’t run a separate system at all - its numbers are Switzerland’s numbers.

Why These Five Countries Are Grouped Together

None of the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, or Liechtenstein are EU members, so none of them use the EU’s IOSS scheme, its €150 threshold, or its new flat €3 IOSS duty. That’s the only thing they have in common. Beyond sitting outside the EU customs union, each of the five runs its own separate VAT law, its own low-value rules, and its own customs tariff - grouping them under “Europe” is a geographic convenience, not a sign that their rules resemble each other. A parcel that clears Norwegian customs cleanly can hit a completely different set of rules crossing into Iceland, even though both are non-EU Nordic markets.

The one genuine exception is Liechtenstein, which gave up running its own customs and VAT system in 1923 and applies Swiss law directly - so functionally, this page covers four independent systems, not five.

How the Five Compare

	United Kingdom	Norway	Switzerland	Liechtenstein	Iceland
Standard VAT	20%	25% (15%/12% reduced)	8.1% (2.6% reduced)	8.1% (2.6% reduced, same as CH)	24% (11% reduced)
Low-value scheme	VAT-only under threshold, collected at checkout	VOEC - VAT collected at checkout	Exempt if tax owed is under CHF 5	Same as Switzerland	None - VAT applies from the first krona
Threshold	£135 (goods value)	NOK 3,000 per item	~CHF 62 goods value (CHF 5 tax owed)	~CHF 62 goods value (same as CH)	No general threshold
Duty on general merchandise	~0-12% above £135	0% via VOEC; standard tariff above/excluded	0% since 1 Jan 2024 (industrial goods)	0% since 1 Jan 2024 (same as CH)	0% on many categories (clothing, electronics)
Runs its own system?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No - uses Swiss rules directly	Yes

United Kingdom

The UK left the EU customs union at the end of the Brexit transition period, so a parcel from an EU seller into the UK is a genuine import, not a domestic delivery. Import VAT is a flat 20%, charged on the goods value plus shipping plus any duty owed. Below £135 (based on CIF value - goods, shipping, and insurance combined), there’s no customs duty at all - VAT is meant to be collected at the point of sale by the seller or marketplace, similar in spirit to the EU’s IOSS. Above £135, both VAT and customs duty apply (an estimated 0-12% under the UK Global Tariff, category-dependent), plus a courier clearance fee typically in the £8-25 range.

The UK confirmed in its November 2025 Autumn Budget that the £135 relief will eventually be abolished, but hasn’t set an effective date as of this writing - treat that as coming, not yet in force. Northern Ireland is a genuine exception within the UK itself: under the Windsor Framework, goods movements there can follow different rules from the rest of the UK, since Northern Ireland stays partly aligned with EU customs rules to keep the Irish land border open. See the full United Kingdom guide for handling-fee detail and the complete FAQ.

Norway

Norway sits outside the EU but inside the EEA and EFTA, and it built its own low-value scheme, VOEC (VAT On E-Commerce), notably before the EU’s IOSS - VOEC launched 1 April 2020, IOSS over a year later. Norway’s standard VAT (MVA) rate is 25%, with reduced rates of 15% on food and 12% on passenger transport, hotel accommodation, and similar services. A foreign seller registered for VOEC collects that VAT at checkout on items priced under NOK 3,000 each, and those parcels clear with no customs duty at all.

Several categories are excluded from VOEC regardless of value - food, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, and pharmaceuticals always go through ordinary customs clearance, with duty and VAT assessed at the border and a carrier handling fee (commonly around NOK 216 for a standard clearance through Posten Norge/Bring) added on delivery. The same applies to any order at or above the NOK 3,000 threshold, or bought from a seller that isn’t VOEC-registered. See the full Norway guide for the excluded-category list and how Tolletaten and Skatteetaten split responsibility.

Switzerland

Switzerland isn’t in the EU, the EEA, or the EU customs union - it’s an EFTA member with bilateral treaties tying it to the EU, but it runs an entirely separate system. Standard VAT is 8.1% (since 1 January 2024), the lowest of the five markets on this page, with a 2.6% reduced rate for food, books, and medicines. A genuine low-value exemption applies if the VAT owed would be under CHF 5, which works out to roughly CHF 62 of goods at the standard rate - though that exemption effectively disappears for large sellers and platforms doing more than CHF 100,000 a year in Swiss sales, since 2025 rules require them to register and charge Swiss VAT at checkout on every order regardless of value.

The bigger structural fact about Switzerland: since 1 January 2024, it abolished customs duty entirely on industrial goods - clothing, footwear, electronics, and most general merchandise now owe VAT only, no duty at all. Only food and agricultural imports still carry duty, calculated by weight rather than value. It’s a genuinely unusual move; most countries cut tariffs product-by-product or through trade deals, not in one unilateral step. See the full Switzerland guide for the platform-taxation rules and Swiss Post’s clearance fees.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein doesn’t run its own customs or VAT system at all. Under a Customs Treaty signed with Switzerland in 1923 (in force since 1 January 1924), it gave up autonomy over foreign trade and was absorbed into the Swiss customs territory - a parcel arriving in Liechtenstein is treated exactly like a parcel arriving in Switzerland: the same VAT rate (8.1% standard, 2.6% reduced), the same CHF 5 tax-owed exemption (~CHF 62 of goods), and the same 2024 abolition of industrial customs duty.

The one place Liechtenstein diverges from Switzerland on paper is EEA membership - Liechtenstein joined in 1995, Switzerland’s voters rejected it that same year - but that distinction is a business and regulatory story, not a shopper’s one. An individual’s parcel is taxed entirely under Swiss law regardless of Liechtenstein’s EEA status. Liechtenstein has no border customs agency of its own; Switzerland’s Federal Office for Customs and Border Security clears goods for both countries. See the full Liechtenstein guide for the 1923 treaty’s history and its smaller gift-parcel allowance.

Iceland

Iceland is the outlier of the five on low-value treatment: it has no general exemption at all. Iceland’s tax authority, Skatturinn, states plainly that goods imported into the country are subject to import charges regardless of value - VAT is due from the first krona on a commercial order, with only a narrow exemption for genuine person-to-person gifts under 13,500 ISK, which explicitly doesn’t cover ordinary webshop orders even if a seller marks the parcel as a gift.

Standard VAT is 24%, with an 11% reduced rate for books, food, and accommodation. Customs duty itself is commonly 0% on everyday categories like clothing and electronics, following tariff cuts around 2016-2017, but that doesn’t reduce the total landed cost much since VAT and the carrier’s own handling fee (charged by Íslandspóstur or another courier) apply regardless. Iceland is also a small, import-dependent market with no domestic manufacturing for most consumer goods, so shipping costs tend to run higher than in larger, more central European markets. See the full Iceland guide for Skatturinn’s structure and the gift-exemption rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is “Europe” the same as the “EU” on this site?

No. The EU region page covers the 27-member customs union; this page covers non-EU European markets - the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein - each running its own separate rules, outside the EU’s IOSS scheme, €150 threshold, and flat IOSS duty.

Which of these five countries has the lowest VAT rate, and which has the highest?

Switzerland and Liechtenstein tie for the lowest at 8.1% (they share the same VAT law). Norway has the highest at 25%. The UK sits at 20% and Iceland at 24%.

Which of these countries has no low-value exemption at all?

Iceland. Unlike the UK (£135), Norway (NOK 3,000 via VOEC), and Switzerland/Liechtenstein (~CHF 62), Iceland charges VAT from the first krona on commercial imports, with no general de minimis threshold.

Do Switzerland and Liechtenstein really have identical rules?

Yes, for a shopper’s parcel. Liechtenstein has no customs or VAT system of its own - a 1923 treaty folds it into Switzerland’s customs territory, so the VAT rate, the exemption threshold, and the 2024 abolition of industrial duty all apply identically in both countries.

Will the UK’s £135 exemption be removed like the EU’s was?

The UK government confirmed in its November 2025 Autumn Budget that it plans to end the £135 relief, but hasn’t confirmed an effective date. Until an official date is announced, the current exemption still applies in full.

Do any of these five use the EU’s IOSS scheme?

No - none of them are in the EU VAT area, so IOSS doesn’t apply to any of them. Norway has its own equivalent (VOEC, which actually predates IOSS), the UK collects VAT at checkout below its own threshold in a similar spirit, and Switzerland/Liechtenstein and Iceland use entirely different mechanisms of their own.