A new logistics tax to be introduced on non-EU parcels under EUR 150 in Romania

Who this will interest: non-EU e-commerce businesses.

Key point(s): A RON 25 (EUR 5) tax will be applied on parcels shipped from outside of the EU to Romanian consumer clients if it has a value of less than EUR 150 from 1 January 2026.

Essentia’s take: The new logistics tax will apply on goods shipped from outside the EU to Romanian consumers thereby making them more costly and less competitive.

Action points: Businesses impacted by this measure will need to consider whether they will pass on this additional cost to the consumer client or if they want to absorb some of the fees.

In more detail

The Romanian government intends on introducing a RON 25 (roughly EUR 5) logistics tax on parcels shipped to Romanian consumer clients from outside of the EU. The RON 25 tax is fixed and will be levied regardless of the value of the parcel as long as it is under a EUR 150 threshold.

In the current form the logistics operator (courier, Romanian Post etc) will be responsible for levying the tax.

The tax does not apply if the goods are imported in bulk in Romania and then distributed to the consumer client. The intention seems to be to make non-EU parcels more costly and to force non-EU companies to register in Romania and import the goods in their own name.

The law introducing the logistics tax has been approved by Parliament but still needs to be ratified by the Romanian President. In its current form the tax will be applicable as of 1 January 2026, although it is not clear if this will actually be the case given that the law might need further scrutiny and could be challenged.

One of the main concerns at the moment is whether logistics operators are capable of managing this tax given that they may not have the required technical infrastructure or the information needed to determine on which parcels the tax should be applied.

The European Commission has proposed an e-commerce handling fee of EUR 2 as of November 2026. Some Member States however have announced their intention to move forward with similar proposals sooner than that.

Romania seems to be the first to actually implement such a tax, although it is not clear if it is compliant with EU law. It should be noted that only the EU is allowed to introduce or amend customs legislation and the logistics tax could be seen as a customs tax. Therefore, there are still some doubts around the legality of the tax.

Companies impacted by this tax should review their current position and decide whether they want to change their business model (e.g. by importing in bulk) or continue to operate the drop shipping model.