Who Pays EU Import Duty: Buyer or Seller? (2026 Rules)

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The €3 EU customs duty (€5 from November 1, 2026) has to be paid by someone. Whether it's your customer or you comes down to one thing: your delivery terms — and most Shopify sellers have never chosen them deliberately.

The short answer

Delivery method	Who pays the €3/€5 duty
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) — seller covers everything	You, the seller
DAP / standard international shipping — duties collected at delivery	The customer (at the door)
Delivered with carrier prepayment, billed back	You — via carrier invoice

The trap: many sellers think "customer pays" and quietly absorb charges anyway — through refunds, disputes, or carrier back-billing.

How this works in practice on Shopify

Shopify checkout doesn't collect the €3/€5 customs duty. It's not part of IOSS VAT (which covers VAT only). So the duty gets paid one of three ways:

1. At the door — customer pays cash or card to the carrier on delivery 2. On the carrier invoice — if you shipped DDP or the carrier prepaid and billed you 3. By you, silently — when disputes and refunds follow an unexpected door charge

How to tell who's paying in your store

Check your shipping methods. If you use Shopify Shipping with international labels marked "duties included" or DDP services, you are on the hook for every EU order — including the €3/€5 per line.

Check your customer messages. "I got charged again at delivery" messages are customers paying at the door — meaning your advertised prices didn't include the real cost.

Check your refunds. Refund spikes on EU orders often trace to unexpected delivery charges.

What to do about it

If you want customers to pay

• Use delivery terms that collect at the door (DAP-style)
• Be transparent: mention customs charges in checkout so the door charge isn't a surprise
• Note that a surprise €5 charge triggers disputes — clarity beats fine print

If you want to pay (DDP — better conversion, more risk)

• Budget the true cost: €3 per line today, €5 per line from November 1
• Know your average lines-per-order and price accordingly
• Audit regularly — DDP sellers silently overpay most often

Either way

• Know your average declaration lines per EU order — it's the number that determines whether your per-order duty is €3 or €12+