VAT on parcels up to €150: Cabinet of Ministers prepares new taxation rules for cross-border orders

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has prepared a bill proposing to revise the taxation rules for e-commerce transactions and the import of goods in international postal and express shipments. The key novelty of the document is the administration of value-added tax (VAT) on orders placed through electronic interfaces, up to a value of €150. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the text of the bill published on the official website of the Verkhovna Rada. The initiative concerns cross-border retail trade, where a buyer places an order on a foreign website and the goods are delivered to Ukraine by post or a courier service.

The essence of the changes: VAT on orders up to €150

Currently, low-value parcels, including those from abroad, often pass through without full VAT administration at the stage of cross-border e-commerce. The new document introduces a mechanism under which the tax will be levied and monitored for orders placed through electronic platforms, up to a value of €150. This effectively expands the tax base by including a segment that previously fell into a "grey" or simplified zone. For logistics and postal operators through which such shipments pass, this means the need to interact with tax administration at the level of each individual order, rather than only at the level of customs clearance for large consignments.

Harmonization with EU law and obligations to the IMF

In the explanatory part, the initiative is directly linked to two foreign-policy and financial tracks. First, the bill is designed to harmonize Ukrainian legislation with the law of the European Union, where similar mechanisms for VAT administration in cross-border e-commerce are already in place. Second, the document is positioned as an instrument for fulfilling Ukraine's obligations under memoranda with the EU and the International Monetary Fund. Thus, the parcel taxation reform is viewed not as an isolated fiscal measure, but as part of a broader course toward alignment with European standards and meeting the conditions of financial support.

Fiscal impact and the protection of politically exposed persons

Beyond the fiscal effect, the initiative states the need to strike a balance between financial monitoring standards and the protection of the rights of politically exposed persons (PEPs). This means that the new rules must allow for the tracking of suspicious transactions and flows without infringing on the lawful rights of certain categories of citizens. According to estimates, implementing the provisions of the bill would allow the state budget to receive approximately 10 billion UAH in additional revenue per year — a significant amount, especially given that the budget needs stable own-source revenues. The context of working with shipments clearly reflects the sector's logistics: at sorting facilities, operators scan and process thousands of international parcels every day, and it is at this level that the new administration will be built.

Contradictory data

Here it is important to honestly note the discrepancy in information about the status of the document. On the one hand, according to the outlet ITC, a Verkhovna Rada committee supported the so-called "strictest" bill on introducing VAT on parcels worth up to €150, indicating that the most stringent version is being advanced in the relevant committee. On the other hand, another article in the same outlet reports that the Rada "blocked the strict tax reform" and that parcels worth up to €150 remain exempt from VAT. These two versions may reflect different stages of the legislative process (support in committee and a subsequent block or rejection in a plenary session), or they may refer to different drafts of the document. Until an official confirmation of the final voting status is received, both viewpoints remain relevant, and readers should bear in mind that the fate of the "strict" version is not unambiguously confirmed.

In any case, the very fact that the Cabinet of Ministers has prepared a bill on new taxation rules for cross-border e-commerce and international postal shipments is confirmed by several sources. The document aims to align with European norms, fulfill obligations to the IMF and the EU, and increase budget revenues by approximately 10 billion UAH per year. The further fate of the initiative will depend on the outcome of its review in the Verkhovna Rada, where, judging by the contradictory reports, the strict version met with resistance.