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EUROPEAN UNION

Why am I being charged to receive gifts in Italy sent from outside the EU?

Sending low-value gifts to Italy from outside the bloc should be exempt from VAT duty, but many people are still being asked to pay extra postal fees at the doorstep.

Published: 21 September 2021 15:49 CEST

Receiving a little thought from loved ones back home is a highlight when you live in another country. It keeps you connected and sometimes a parcel just might contain something you’ve been craving and missing in Italy.

Crumpets, Yorkshire Tea and Marmite immediately spring to mind. Does that give away that I’m from the north of England?

Last time I hopped to the front gate, expecting to receive a parcel I’d been told to look out for, I realised the postman wasn’t letting go of the package.

“That’ll be €27.57 please.”

“Excuse me?”

“€27.57.”

I asked why I was being charged to receive a gift and was told they’re just fees you have to pay. If you don’t want to pay, the parcel will be returned.

As I’d been waiting for this package for weeks, I shrugged, smile replaced by a furrowed brow, and trundled off to get my purse, muttering all the way.

EXPLAINED: Why are residents in Italy being charged to receive small parcels from outside the EU?

On handing over €30, he said he didn’t have any change.

Of course he didn’t.

This payment of mysterious “fees” became a habit I unfortunately got used to over the following weeks. I got married in August and most people from England couldn’t make it due to travel restrictions. So they sent across a little present instead.

Gifts turned up, I had to pay anywhere between €3 and €30 and the person delivering it never had change. So you have to round up and lose even more money.

I’d get home and receive a notice of missed delivery in the postbox. So then I’d have to take time out of my day to go to the post office (which is eventful itself, as anyone who lives in Italy will know), queue up and cough up the fees to collect the gift.

Fees of €7.31 applied to a parcel labelled as ‘gift’ on the customs form for items worth a total of £20. Delivery charges paid in England are £14.10. Photo: Karli Drinkwater

Then it was immediately my birthday, so there were more gifts I ended up paying almost the same value of the present to receive.

I’ve now spent around €150 in postal fees on delivery since July.

All in all, the cost to deliver a parcel for my family and friends and the charges I end up paying when it gets here matches or outweighs the value of the item.

We’re usually talking about something little, some tea and chocolates perhaps, but although low in monetary value, these items are priceless when you know someone has taken the time to think of you and send you a gesture.

But it’s now got to the point where I’ve asked people back home not to send anything, which is sad, let’s face it – especially as Christmas is coming and the exchanging of gifts is going to effectively come to an end.

Others have got in touch to say it’s happening to them too. Jess in Tuscany reported that she paid €35 for receiving an item marked as ‘gift’.

Not only are residents in Italy getting charged for gifts, readers have reported that the delivery time is excessively delayed, which I have repeatedly experienced too.

In some cases, the parcel never reaches its destination with no clear explanation as to why.

For Jessica in Rome, she said her mum had sent her a present she had personally made by hand. It had “sentimental value”, which is something you can’t claim compensation for – and had it arrived, she’d have had to pay €5 to receive it.

In another example of the procedure, a resident in Italy paid €10 to receive a T-shirt from the UK.

Although not everyone has been hit by these charges, making the situation even murkier.

Mira in Rome managed to evade paying postal fees on her low-value parcels, even if based on others’ experience this seems to be down to chance.

Since these charges have only just started being applied halfway through the year on everything I receive from outside the EU, I wondered whether the fees on gifts in particular were a mistake.

Why are gifts getting taxed?

New EU regulations mean people now have to pay VAT charges on all parcels from outside the bloc, a measure that came into force on July 1st, six months later than scheduled due to the pandemic.

Nevertheless, despite the rule slipping in halfway through the year and it being applicable to all purchased items of any value, there is still an exemption for low-value gifts.

The EU’s taxation and customs union website reports that private packages with a value of up to €45 “are not subject to prohibitions or restrictions,” and the customs and finance authorities of various countries, including Austria, Finland, and Germany, also say on their websites that gifts of up to €45 are not subject to customs duty or VAT charges.

In that case, will these levies be recognised as an error and be dropped?

Looking at my receipts, there’s a breakdown of diritti postali (handling charge) and the VAT – which shouldn’t be applied. The handling fees of the post service or courier are always much higher. In the example of my first package, out of €22.57 of charges, €22.20 were for UPS’s handling fees.

In another, smaller item, I was charged €2.00 handling fee by Poste Italiane and €0.26 for the customs fee.

The website of the Italian postal service, Poste Italiane, stated, “If the item is not of a commercial nature (as the object is sent between private individuals on an occasional basis and without remuneration) and its intrinsic value is less than 45 euros, no charge is required.”

However, as we have experienced, that’s not been communicated yet as many residents in Italy continue to report paying fees on gifts of this nature.

Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP

As of September 21st, The Local had not received a response from Poste Italiane to a request for clarification on why in practice Italian residents are being charged to receive low-value gift packages.

And it’s still happening on every single gift item I receive, whether that’s delivered by the Italian postal system or a private courier.

For now, it seems gifts are being bundled together with all items and no distinction is being made between goods purchased online and a hand-knitted scarf sent from your granny.

The EU taxation and customs website noted, “Customers in the EU will only receive the goods bought after the VAT has been paid.”

Online sellers need to register with the EU’s VAT ‘One Stop Shop’ to clear customs “in order to avoid VAT being levied upon importation and to therefore speed up the release for free circulation of the goods”.

So this explains why so many parcels are getting stuck and taking weeks and months to be delivered, but it only applies to sellers who may not have registered with the EU’s import system – and it doesn’t account for low-value gifts that shouldn’t be swept along with these changes.

Residents in Italy are in a frustrating phase of knowing these charges shouldn’t apply but having to pay them anyway.

For now, there is at least one item that can be sent without getting taxed at the door: the written word.

The Local spoke to VAT and tax experts Sarah Shears and Philip Munn, who both confirmed that there should be no charges on letters or cards.

So at least we’ll still be able to keep loved ones on our Christmas card list, even if there won’t be any tax-free figgy pudding.

The Local is continuing to look into the current rules in the EU and in Italy, and will provide updates as we receive more information.

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For members

EES PASSPORT CHECKS

How will the new app for Europe’s EES border system work?

With Europe set to introduce its new Entry/Exit biometric border system (EES) in the autumn there has been much talk about the importance of a new app designed to help avoid delays. But how will it work and when will it be ready?

Published: 7 May 2024 10:29 CEST
How will the new app for Europe's EES border system work?

When it comes into force the EU’s new digital border system known as EES will register the millions of annual entries and exits of non-EU citizens travelling to the EU/Schengen area, which will cover 29 European countries.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), non-EU residents who do not require a visa will have to register their biometric data in a database that will also capture each time they cross an external Schengen border.

Passports will no longer be manually stamped, but will be scanned. However, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard when the non-EU traveller first crosses in to the EU/Schengen area.

Naturally there are concerns the extra time needed for this initial registration will cause long queues and tailbacks at the border.

To help alleviate those likely queues and prevent the subsequent frustration felt by travellers the EU is developing a new smartphone app.

READ ALSO: What will the EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The importance of having a working app was summed up by Uku Särekanno, Deputy Executive Director of the EU border agency Frontex in a recent interview.

“Initially, the challenge with the EES will come down to the fact that travellers arriving in Europe will have to have their biographic and biometric data registered in the system – border guards will have to register four of their fingerprints and their facial image. This process will take time, and every second really matters at border crossing points – nobody wants to be stuck in a lengthy queue after a long trip.”

But there is confusion around what the app will actually be able to do, if it will help avoid delays and importantly when will it be available?

So here’s what we know so far.

Who is developing the app?

The EU border agency Frontex is currently developing the app. More precisely, Frontex is developing the back-end part of the app, which will be made available to Schengen countries.

“Frontex is currently developing a prototype of an app that will help speed up this process and allow travellers to share some of the information in advance. This is something we are working on to support the member states, although there is no legal requirement for us to do so,” Uku Särekanno said in the interview.

Will the 29 EES countries be forced to use the app?

No, it is understood that Frontex will make the app available on a voluntary basis. Each government will then decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs.

This point emerged at a meeting of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, which is carrying out an inquiry on how EES will impact the UK.

What data will be registered via the app?

The Local asked the European Commission about this. A spokesperson however, said the Commission was not “in a position to disclose further information at this stage” but that travellers’ personal data “will be processed in compliance with the high data security and data protection standards set by EU legislation.”

According to the blog by Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP the Frontex app will collect passengers’ name, date of birth, passport number, planned destination and length of stay, reason for travelling, the amount of cash they carry, the availability of a credit card and of a travel health insurance. The app could also allow to take facial images. It will then generate a QR code that travellers can present at border control.

This, however, does not change the fact that fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing into the Schengen area.

So given the need to register finger prints and facial images with a border guard, the question is how and if the app will help avoid those border queues?

When is the app going to be available?

The answer to perhaps the most important question is still unclear.

The Commissions spokesperson told The Local that the app “will be made available for Schengen countries as from the Entry/Exit System start of operations.” The planned launch date is currently October 6th, but there have been several delays in the past and may be another one.

The UK parliamentary committee heard that the prototype of the app should have been ready for EU member states in spring. Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, said the app will not be available for testing until August “at best” and that the app will not be ready in time for October. The committee previously stated that the app might even be delayed until summer 2025.

Frontex’s Särekanno said in his interview: “Our aim is to have it ready by the end of the summer, so it can then be gradually integrated into national systems starting from early autumn”.

READ ALSO: How do the EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Can the system be launched if the app is not ready?

Yes. The European Commission told The Local that “the availability of the mobile application is not a condition for the Entry/Exit System entry into operation or functioning of the system. The app is only a tool for pre-registration of certain types of data and the system can operate without this pre-registration.”

In addition, “the integration of this app at national level is to be decided by each Schengen country on a voluntary basis – as there is no legal obligation to make use of the app.”

And the UK’s transport under secretary Guy Opperman sounded a note of caution saying the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

When the app will be in use, will it be mandatory for travellers?

There is no indication that the app will become mandatory for those non-EU travellers who need to register for EES. But there will probably be advantages in using it, such as getting access to faster lanes.

As a reminder, non-EU citizens who are resident in the EU are excluded from the EES, as are those with dual nationality for a country using EES. Irish nationals are also exempt even though Ireland will not be using EES because it is not in the Schengen area.

Has the app been tested anywhere yet?

Frontex says the prototype of the app will be tested at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, in Sweden. Matthias Monroy’s website said it was tested last year at Munich Airport in Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and Gibraltar.

According to the German Federal Police, the blog reports, passengers were satisfied and felt “prepared for border control”.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

 
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