From another country
Find information about what applies when you receive letters and parcels from other countries, or import goods, for example when buying online.
Receive from another country – for individuals
Pay VAT
Here you can pay VAT and VAT declaration fee for your shipment.
VAT exemptions
Under certain circumstances, VAT is exempted when receiving parcels from outside of the EU Customs Union. In the following cases parcels will, after approval from the Swedish Customs, be delivered straight to the recipient or to a service point with no additional charges:
- Non-recurring gifts between private individuals under a certain value of 500 SEK. The customs declaration need to state that the content is a gift between private individuals in order for PostNord to recognize it as a gift. At the Swedish Customs website you can find more information about receiving gifts.
- Goods with prepaid VAT. PostNord has an agreement with the e-commerce platform Wish which provides VAT payment in the check-out. For these items, VAT and declaration fee need not be paid upon arrival to Sweden.
Import – Receive/buy online
Import refers to an item taken in from a country outside of the EU – and from countries not included in EU tax areas or areas covered by EU excise legislation.
As a general rule, PostNord must make sure that VAT is paid before any goods can be delivered. As a recipient, you will get a notification on how to accept PostNord as a direct customs representative and how to pay taxes and fees. Once these charges have been paid, the parcel will, pending approval from the Swedish customs, be delivered to the recipient or service point, depending on size and the chosen shipment service
PostNord charges a cost-based fee for the handling of customs declarations. For consignments with a declared value of 1,600 SEK or less, the regular fee is 75 incl. VAT. For consignments with a declared value exceeding SEK 1,600 a complete customs declaration is required, and custom tariffs may be levied. The fee in these cases will be SEK 125 incl. VAT.
For certain goods, there are special rules that require a complete customs declaration even if the declared value is SEK 1,600 or less:
- If the shipment contains certain type of electronics, special excise duty must also be paid. More information about this excise tax can be found at the Swedish Tax Agency’s website.
- Dietary supplements. Read more on the Swedish Customs' website about which goods are covered by special rules.
In these cases, a complete import declaration is needed. The fee is SEK 125 including VAT in these cases. Note that VAT is calculated on the purchase price, shipping cost and customs fee. The limit for duty-free is calculated on the purchase price and shipping cost.
Please note that goods shipped from the UK may also be declared for import via DPD NL in the Netherlands. In these cases, payment of an import declaration fee of EUR 6.05 and additional VAT on the goods is made directly to DPD NL. You as the recipient will be notified by DPD NL via text message or email with a link to payment. In the event of non-payment, the package will be returned after 6 days.
Correct documentation important
According to the Universal Postal Union regulations, correct customs documentation must accompany all consignments containing commercial items that arrive from outside the EU customs union. Information on country of origin, description of contents and value of the goods must be declared in the customs document. The description must be detailed enough for an import declaration to be carried out. For example, the description "clothes" is not detailed enough, but "two cotton shirts" is acceptable. More information about the regulations regarding customs documentation (pdf) can be found at the Universal Postal Union.
English and French are approved languages.
If the import declaration cannot be completed due to lack of documentation, the consignment will be returned to the postal operator of the country of origin.
Buying online from another EU country
In most cases, ordering goods from an EU country is considered domestic trade. You therefore do not need to pay any duties. VAT is paid according to the VAT rate in the country of origin and is included in the price.
Additional information about imports is available on Swedish Customs website.
Private import of pharmaceuticals is only permitted from countries within EES/EFTA, i.e., EU countries and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. We will therefore return to sender all shipments containing pharmaceutical products classified by the Medical Products Agency as medications. Read more about import regulations on the Medical Products Agency’s website.
The import declaration charge is PostNord’s fee for carrying out the task of submitting the declaration to Swedish Customs on behalf of the importer.
Import One Stop Shop (IOSS)
The EU's new VAT rules from 1 July 2021 mean, among other things, that e-retailers outside the EU can register for IOSS, which means that VAT can be levied directly at the time of purchase. The advantage for you as a consumer is that you can get your shipment faster and without having to pay VAT and a handling fee when the shipment arrives in the EU. For this to work, the e-retailer needs to be registered and send the necessary information electronically, which makes simplified customs clearance possible. These conditions need to be met for the Swedish Customs to approve the customs clearance. Should the declaration be rejected, you will instead need a regular customs clearance where you have to pay VAT and a handling fee as with regular private import. PostNord will have no information as to why any customs declaration is rejected. If you have reason to believe that VAT is prepaid, you are advised to contact the sender for more information.
Special agreement with foreign e-commerce platforms
As of 1 July 2021 parcels sent from Wish will be cleared through the Import One Stop Shop regulations described above.
From another country – for businesses
Here, companies can find information about what applies when you receive letters, parcels and pallets from other countries, or import goods, for example when buying online.
Import refers to an item taken in from a country outside of the EU – and from countries not included in EU tax areas or areas covered by EU excise legislation.
The item must clear customs before it may be used or sold. PostNord carries out import clearance for the recipient. The customs clearance specifications are enclosed in the parcel and include costs for VAT, duties and our import declaration fee. The amount must be paid in conjunction with the delivery of the parcel. Our fee for the import declaration of goods is added.
Reporting import VAT if your business is registered for VAT
Beginning January 1, 2015, import VAT will be reported to the Swedish Tax Agency instead of Swedish Customs. This means that business-owners must report import VAT in the VAT declaration and submit payment to the Swedish Tax Agency. Swedish Customs takes decisions on taxes and import duties and is responsible for checking information. Swedish Customs sets a "monetary customs value" for import VAT.
- For companies who currently have customs credit with Swedish Customs, the monetary customs value is sent via the customs invoice from Swedish Customs.
- It is fastest and easiest for businesses without customs credit with Swedish Customs to download the documents for import VAT and monetary documents at tullverket.se.
- If you would prefer to receive VAT report documents from us, email the customs ID you want information on to backoffice.tull@postnord.com.
Businesses that are not registered for VAT and private individuals are not affected. For more information see tullverket.se or skatteverket.se.