Buy at Temu or Shein? Prepare for new fee from Sunday

Rate of €2 (plus VAT) plus another €3 already in force

The post office operator recalls that “by decision of the Council of the European Union, on 1 July 2026, the exemption from customs duties applicable to low value purchases by private individuals from countries outside the European Union has ended“.

That is, since then “that online purchases up to 150€ are subject to payment of a simplified customs duty scheme of €3 + VAT per type of item/content“.

“ The different articles/contents are defined with reference to the breakdown of the Harmonised Code. In this scheme, the amount of duties to be paid (3€ + VAT) does not depend on the value or quantity acquired of the same type of article/content”, the TTCs recall. 

In addition, “it also enters into force on November 1st the obligation to, in online purchases up to 150€, senders of extra-Community origins have to provide product identification data in all customs declarations“.

“ The objects that arrive in Portugal without this information can be returned, in accordance with the new customs rules ", can be read in the note published by the CTT.

This means that as from 1 November 2026, you must count on the following in purchases of goods by private individuals:

Purchases with value up to 150€

• VAT on purchases
• Customs duties (3€ + VAT per type of article/content)
• Customs handling fee (2€ + VAT, per type of item/content)
• Costs of customs clearance services (see the tariff in force)

Purchases of more than 150€

• VAT on purchases
• Customs duties calculated with variable values, indexed to each article (general system of customs duties “ad valorem”)
• Customs handling fee (2€ + VAT, per type of item/content)
• Costs of customs clearance services (see the tariff in force)

European Commission accepts Temu's plan to correct flaws

This week, the European Commission accepted the action plan the Chinese electronic e-commerce platform It had to correct non-compliance with Community rules and combat the availability of illegal products on the platform, the institution announced.

“The European Commission has accepted Temu’s action plan to comply with the Digital Services Regulation and combat the availability of illegal ‘online’ products of the legislation, says the Community executive in a statement.

According to Brussels, the plan provides for five measures to correct the identified failures, including carrying out a specific risk analysis for the platform and using reliable metrics to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken to reduce the dissemination of illegal content.

Temu also undertakes to assess the limitations of its content moderation mechanisms and to examine how recommendation systems can contribute to increasing the dissemination of illegal products.

The company will also examine situations of deliberate manipulation and promotion of illegal articles, including cases where vendors use platform functionality to disclose advertisements for potentially illegal products.

The European Commission has granted Temu four months to carry out a mid-term risk assessment for a period of six months until 30 November 2026, with the aim of ensuring the implementation of the measures provided for in the plan.