IOSS vs DDP for China-to-EU E-Commerce Shipping
IOSS vs DDP compares VAT collection with delivery responsibility; an eligible China-to-EU order can use both.
The Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) is an EU value-added tax (VAT) scheme that lets sellers or marketplaces collect VAT at checkout on qualifying imported consumer sales. Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) is a delivery term under which the seller arranges transport and import clearance and bears the applicable costs.
For businesses sourcing in China and shipping directly to EU consumers, order eligibility comes first, followed by the remaining import costs and the data the carrier needs.
When a consumer receives a payment request after paying VAT at checkout, missing IOSS data, an ineligible consignment, and a different charge require different responses.
IOSS Eligibility and DDP Responsibilities for China-to-EU Orders
IOSS applies to qualifying consumer sales dispatched from outside the EU in consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150. Intrinsic value is the goods’ price excluding VAT and separately stated transport and insurance costs. Whether or not IOSS applies, the seller still assigns responsibility for transport, import clearance, and payment of the charges through the agreed Incoterms for small parcel shipping.
Here, the seller means the business selling to the EU customer. That business might buy from a Chinese manufacturer and instruct it to dispatch orders directly. The e-commerce seller agrees delivery terms with its customer and selects the supplier’s shipping service accordingly.
| Point of comparison | IOSS | DDP |
|---|---|---|
| Type of arrangement | VAT scheme for qualifying imported consumer sales | Delivery term assigning transport, risk, and import obligations to the seller |
| €150 threshold | Applies to consignment intrinsic value | No equivalent value ceiling |
| Import costs | Does not settle customs duty or logistics fees | Seller bears the applicable import costs under the agreed delivery term |
| Delivery endpoint | Does not specify a delivery point | Agreed destination, with goods ready for unloading |
Direct shipment within the IOSS limit: Goods sold while outside the EU and dispatched from China to an EU consumer qualify when the consignment’s intrinsic value does not exceed €150 and the goods are not subject to excise duty. The seller or marketplace collects VAT through IOSS; the seller separately agrees the transport and delivery terms.
Direct shipment above €150: IOSS does not apply to that consignment. A seller offering duty-paid delivery arranges import VAT payment, applicable duty, clearance, and delivery outside IOSS.
Stock imported before sale: Goods imported into an EU warehouse and subsequently sold from that stock do not qualify for IOSS on those sales. The stock shipment has its own import clearance and transport terms.
The value test applies to the consignment. A product priced below €150 does not establish eligibility if the goods in its consignment exceed the limit. The destination being in the EU is also insufficient: a shipment to a business buying commercial stock is a different transaction from a qualifying consumer sale.
IOSS is optional. Without it, import VAT is due at clearance. On a recipient-paid service, the postal operator or courier collects it from the customer before delivery.
On a DDP service, the seller funds it through the agreed payment account. Clearance or tax-advancement fees are additional service charges when the provider’s terms include them.
VAT, Customs Duty, and Costs Under IOSS and DDP
For a qualifying shipment, importation is exempt from import VAT when the valid IOSS number is provided to customs as required. The seller or marketplace collects VAT on the sale at checkout instead. The shipping quote therefore covers the remaining customs duty and logistics charges, with the seller paying them where it promises DDP delivery.
The sales agreement sets the seller’s obligations to the customer. The transport agreement lists the services and charges supplied by the forwarder or carrier. If the quote excludes customs duty or clearance fees, the seller arranges those services and payments separately to fulfill its DDP commitment, including payment of the temporary €3 duty.
| Charge | Collection or billing point | Point to confirm in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| VAT collected through IOSS | Seller or marketplace collects sales VAT at checkout | Qualifying IOSS import: no import VAT collected at clearance |
| Customs duty | Customs assesses duty; the declarant or representative handles payment | Seller’s billing account for DDP; included duty or separate invoice |
| Union handling fee | Customs fee; €2 per declared item expected from November 1, 2026 | Separate from duty and carrier fees; allocation in quotes covering November imports |
| Freight | Carrier or forwarder bills the contracting customer | Pickup and international carriage; any included delivery leg |
| Customs clearance service | Carrier, broker, or forwarder bills for the service | Included clearance service; fees for additional work |
| Duty or tax advancement | A provider charges for advancing funds, where applicable | Any fee for the provider advancing duty or tax |
| Destination delivery | Carrier or delivery partner bills under its service terms | Coverage of the delivery address; location-based surcharges |
From July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2028, the temporary €3 duty applies to qualifying imported distance-sale consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150. Customs calculates it by declared item under the EU customs rules for low-value parcels, using the tariff grouping required by the declaration. Identical goods grouped on one declaration line attract one €3 charge; two separate categories attract two charges.
A separate €2 Union handling fee per declared item is expected from November 1, 2026. Quotes covering November imports need to list it separately from customs duty and carrier clearance fees, with the payer named.
Example: Suppose an independent store sells two identical accessories with a combined intrinsic value of €90 to a consumer in France. The store collects VAT through IOSS, and its Chinese supplier sends both items in one parcel. Assume the goods fall within one tariff-classification category and the parcel meets the IOSS import conditions.
For an October 2026 import, the temporary duty is €3 for that category, not €6 for the two physical items. No import VAT is collected at clearance. If the quote includes freight and delivery but excludes duty and the clearance service fee, the seller pays those two costs separately under the DDP arrangement. The carrier bills the seller’s nominated account.
Conditional fees apply only when the event specified in the provider’s terms occurs. For example, storage after a clearance delay differs from a remote-area surcharge determined by the delivery address. The quote or service terms list the trigger and billing party for customs inspection support, storage, address correction, and location-based charges.
An import VAT amount in a quote for this IOSS parcel signals a difference in the planned declaration or a pricing error. If the provider plans a non-IOSS import, the quote uses a different tax procedure from the checkout sale. If it plans a qualifying IOSS import, an import VAT line requires correction or an explanation of what that line actually covers.
Read our EU tax guide to understand the tax and customs duty for China-EU shipping
IOSS Numbers and Product Data for China-to-EU Parcels
Before dispatch, the seller or fulfillment partner supplies the correct IOSS number and order details through the selected service’s electronic booking process. The carrier or forwarder sends the number to the customs declarant—the person lodging the import declaration or in whose name it is lodged. The supplier’s final packing record shows what is actually being shipped.
The three parties contribute different information:
Seller or marketplace: Identifies the sale, the VAT collected, and the IOSS number used for that transaction. For independent-store sales, this is the seller’s IOSS number; for marketplace sales accounted for under IOSS, it is the marketplace’s number.
Chinese supplier or fulfillment warehouse: Provides the packed product descriptions, quantities, goods value, currency, and recipient details. A substitution or quantity change updates the shipment information before booking.
Carrier or forwarder: Receives the order and parcel data through its supported system and passes the customs information to the declarant. Its booking instructions identify the field or file used for the IOSS number.
For a warehouse dispatching for several stores or platforms, each parcel uses the IOSS number associated with its sale. Matching the seller’s order reference to the parcel’s booking reference prevents a warehouse-wide default from replacing the correct number. Non-EU sellers generally use an EU-established intermediary to obtain their own IOSS number. Marketplace-accounted IOSS sales use the platform’s number.
For a forwarder booking, the selected service’s submission instructions show where to enter the IOSS number. Comparing the submitted file with the resulting booking reveals a missing value or incorrect field mapping. A spreadsheet column or general comment containing the number is insufficient if its contents never enter the customs field passed to the declarant.
Product descriptions and values also support the declaration. “Plastic phone case” identifies the item more clearly than “accessories.” Separate quantities and goods prices show what the parcel contains, while separately stated transport charges remain distinguishable from the product value. The supplier updates these details when the packed order changes.
From November 1, 2026, product identifiers become mandatory for imported distance-sale consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150; voluntary submission began on July 1. The seller or platform supplies the product identifiers used in its listings. The supplier supplies the manufacturer’s product codes and any available standardized identifiers, such as barcodes. These identifiers accompany the parcel’s electronic customs data to the declarant.
For battery-powered devices or alcohol-based cosmetics, shipping small e-commerce parcels from China requires a separate product and packaging acceptance decision. The IOSS data describes the sale; the product assessment determines whether that service can carry the packed goods.
Why IOSS Parcels Receive Additional Payment Requests
An import VAT request on an expected IOSS shipment can result from a missing or rejected IOSS number, or a parcel that falls outside the scheme’s conditions. A duty or carrier-fee request raises a different question: whether the seller’s booked service covered the charge and billed the intended account.
The itemized payment notice names the charge and links it to a tracking or declaration reference. Each charge calls for different supporting records:
Import VAT: A checkout receipt shows the VAT collected on the sale. The import declaration shows whether the parcel was entered under IOSS, and the declarant’s validation result shows whether the number was accepted. A missing or rejected number explains why the expected IOSS exemption was not applied; a value above the limit raises an eligibility issue instead.
Customs duty: The duty assessment shows the customs charge. The transport booking names the account nominated to pay it. If a seller account was agreed but the notice requests payment from the consumer, the records point to a billing-instruction error or a failure to follow it.
Union handling fee: The customs assessment shows its basis and the declaration date; the booking shows who pays. For a November import, an October quote omitting this fee differs from a quote that included it but billed the consumer by mistake.
Clearance or carrier service fee: The invoice identifies the service performed, and the quote or terms show its agreed price or trigger. A duty-advancement fee is payment for the provider advancing funds; it is separate from the customs duty assessed on the goods.
Example: Suppose a marketplace collects VAT on an eligible order, but the supplier sends a dispatch file without the marketplace’s IOSS number. The consumer receives an import VAT request. In this example, the booking record also lacks the number, and the declarant confirms that the parcel was entered without IOSS.
These findings locate the failure at the supplier-to-shipping-provider handoff. If the submitted booking instead contained the correct number but the declaration omitted it, the records would locate the gap later, between booking and declaration. The seller approaches the supplier in the first situation and the shipping provider in the second, using the relevant record to explain the discrepancy.
A change in packing can produce a different result. When several orders for the same consumer are combined into one consignment above €150, the final goods value puts that consignment outside IOSS. Individually addressed parcels for different consumers traveling together remain a different transport-consolidation situation. The packing record and import entry show the consignment used for the value test. Counting the original sales orders alone does not resolve its eligibility.
For a duty request on a DDP shipment, the written booking also distinguishes a service exclusion from a billing failure. If duty was excluded from the transport service, the seller still has to arrange its payment under the customer’s DDP terms. If the provider agreed to bill the seller but billed the recipient, the seller raises that specific mismatch with the provider.
China-to-EU E-Commerce Shipping with Gerudo Logistics
Gerudo Logistics provides cross-border parcel shipping from China to Europe, including specialist channels for lithium-battery electronics and flammable liquid cosmetics. Our door-to-door logistics services cover China-side transport, customs clearance, and destination delivery.
For sellers dispatching through a Chinese supplier, a parcel inquiry can specify the EU delivery address and request a quote covering duty-paid delivery and electronic IOSS data submission. The product and final packing details support the channel selection and freight calculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does shipping count toward the €150 IOSS limit?
Separately stated transport and insurance costs are excluded from the consignment’s intrinsic value. If they are included in the goods price and not separately identified on the invoice, they count toward that value.
Should I print the IOSS number on the parcel label?
Avoid adding the IOSS number as publicly visible label text; share it only with the parties that need it for customs clearance. This follows the EU guidance to limit disclosure of the number, while the carrier’s generated label supplies the markings required by that service.
How is the €150 IOSS limit assessed when an order is priced in another currency?
The seller or marketplace assesses eligibility using the applicable VAT conversion rate when payment is accepted. EU guidance recommends showing the corresponding goods price in euros on the shipment invoice to reduce discrepancies when customs checks the value at import.
Are an IOSS number and an EORI number interchangeable?
No. An IOSS number identifies the VAT scheme registration for eligible sales; an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number identifies an operator for customs purposes, and the two cannot replace each other in declaration fields.
Does DDP shipping include cargo insurance?
DDP does not require the seller to purchase cargo insurance, although the seller bears transport risk until the agreed delivery point. Insurance cover needs to be arranged separately or expressly included in the contracted service.
