Given that the gift-giving season and the surge in ordering Christmas presents through online stores are rapidly approaching, it is extremely important that all buyers in Croatia are informed in a timely and accurate manner about the rules that apply to the arrival of packages from abroad.

If you are planning these days to delight your loved ones with small items ordered from China, the United States of America, or the United Kingdom, you must be aware that completely different rules apply to such goods than to those arriving from European Union countries. Distance purchasing from so-called third countries is subject to specific customs formalities which is why it often happens that citizens are unpleasantly surprised when a delivery person knocks on their door with additional costs they had not planned for.

The basic rule you must remember is that the application of customs regulations and the customs clearance procedure upon entry into the European Union applies exclusively to goods purchased in countries that are not members of the Union. For all such packages, regardless of their value, customs declarations have been mandatory since mid-2021. Although in theory the customs declaration can also be submitted by the buyer themselves if they have all the necessary data, in practice this procedure is too complex for the average citizen, so this role is regularly taken over by intermediaries. These are most often Hrvatska pošta or various courier services that act as customs representatives on behalf of the buyer. The entire process takes place exclusively electronically at a unified level across the whole Union, so citizens cannot use systems such as e-Građani to handle this bureaucracy, but are instead referred to the services of their delivery providers.

It is precisely in this relationship between the buyer and the delivery provider that the greatest misunderstandings often arise, because citizens mistakenly believe that the Customs Administration determines all the costs charged to them when collecting a package. The truth is actually different, because the customs service cannot in any way influence the private business relationship between the buyer and the carrier. This means that the amount you pay for the customs clearance mediation service is actually a fee charged by the delivery service according to its own price list, while the state takes only the prescribed public charges such as customs duty and VAT. For the protection of consumers and greater transparency, the law prescribes that the customs forwarder must clearly and separately show on the invoice what is the cost of its service and what are the charges forwarded to the state budget.

When it comes to the charges themselves, there are certain exemptions that may be useful when sending private gifts. Namely, shipments that one natural person from a third country sends to another natural person in the European Union are exempt from paying customs duty and VAT, but only if their value does not exceed 45 euros. However, great caution is needed here because this exemption applies exclusively to shipments of a non-commercial nature that are sent occasionally and contain goods for the personal use of the recipient and their family, such as souvenirs, photographs, or other private small items.

It is important to emphasize the difference between such private gifts and what merchants often call 'gratis' shipments. The fact that an online store sent you a free sample or a gift with purchase does not mean that those goods are exempt from customs duty and VAT, because different rules apply to commercial shipments. If the value of a commercial shipment is less than 150 euros, it is exempt from customs duty, but VAT must be paid on it. Fortunately, many modern sales platforms use the IOSS system, which allows you to pay VAT immediately when placing the order, thereby avoiding double payment and speeding up delivery, provided that the seller correctly states all the information on the package.

In addition to financial expenses, Customs also takes safety into account when inspecting packages, so it checks whether the goods meet health and safety standards and whether they may be counterfeits that infringe intellectual property rights. In the event that the ordered goods arrive damaged or simply do not match what you expected, consumers have the right to a return. If you decide to return the goods to the seller, it is possible to request the cancellation of the customs declaration and a refund of the charges paid, but you must submit that request within 90 days, most often through the same delivery provider that carried out the import procedure. Therefore, before you click 'buy', carefully examine where the goods are coming from and factor in the potential costs so that your holidays pass without unnecessary stress and additional expenses.

Let us imagine a situation in which you order clothing through popular online platforms from China or America, for example a winter jacket that costs 100 euros. Since this is a commercial shipment whose value is less than 150 euros, you will not pay customs duty on it. However, the state will certainly charge you value added tax, that is, VAT of 25 percent. If the online store is registered in the IOSS system, you will pay that VAT immediately when completing the purchase on the website and the package should arrive without additional tax charges at your door. But if the seller is not in that system, be prepared to pay VAT to the delivery person when collecting the package, and probably also a fee for their mediation service.

Another situation concerns more expensive orders, say if you are ordering a new mobile phone or designer boots worth 200 euros from the United Kingdom. In this case, you exceed the 150-euro limit, which means that all charging mechanisms are activated. On such a shipment, you will pay both customs duty according to the prescribed rate for that type of goods and VAT. It is important to know that in this case VAT is calculated on the total value, which includes the price of the goods increased by the delivery cost and the amount of customs duty, so the final cost may be significantly higher than the one displayed on the website.

A special category consists of packages sent to you by natural persons, for example relatives from Australia or friends from the USA. If your aunt from America sends you a Christmas package containing knitted gloves and chocolate with a total value of 30 euros, and it is clearly indicated on the package that it is a gift and has no commercial nature, such a shipment is completely exempt from both customs duty and VAT. The key condition here is the 45-euro limit. As long as the gifts that one person sends to another do not exceed that amount and are sent occasionally, the recipient in Croatia pays no public charges at all.

However, the fourth example warns of caution when receiving gifts of higher value. If that same friend from America sends you a watch or a camera worth 100 euros as a birthday gift, the fact that it is a gift no longer saves you from costs. Since the value exceeds the 45-euro threshold for private shipments, the state will assess charges on that gift, even though you did not buy it but received it.

Finally, it should be pointed out that there are specific products that are excluded from any exemptions. If you order perfume, toilet water, alcoholic beverages, or tobacco products from third countries, the exemptions related to the value of the goods do not apply to them. This means that even if you order a cheap perfume costing 20 euros, you will have to pay charges on it because such goods are considered excise and luxury goods and are subject to stricter taxation rules regardless of the low price.