Published by GOV.UK (HM Treasury)
De minimis and low-value imports
Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the United Kingdom
The UK consultation on reforming the customs treatment of low value imports (goods valued at £135 or less) was published 26 November 2025, ran to 6 March 2026, and the government published its consultation response on 13 July 2026 (PDF, 537KB, 33 pages). Per the page, the response 'summarises stakeholder feedback and confirms decisions on introducing new customs arrangements, tariff treatment, additional fees, VAT collection and the next steps for implementation (including legislation and guidance)'. The response itself records 165 consultation responses received and confirms three decisions of direct commercial consequence: the government will introduce an additional fee in relation to LVIs, with the design and level still being worked through; sellers and online marketplaces will pay customs duty quarterly, with the option to stagger payments to align with VAT return cycles; and delivery is accelerated by 6 months to October 2028 at the latest.
Why it matters
Status: RESPONSE PUBLISHED 13 July 2026 - decisions confirmed at policy level, with legislation and guidance still to follow. The fee question is now answered and it is the one to plan against: an additional fee on low-value imports is confirmed in principle but unpriced, so a landed-cost model for the UK has a known line item with an unknown value, and the response is explicit that more detail follows. The quarterly duty decision is the quieter operational change - it moves UK duty from a per-parcel border event to a periodic filing that looks like a VAT return, which is a reconciliation problem before it is a money one. Note also that the UK and EU diverge on both threshold (£135 vs EUR 150) and timing, so a single 'low value' rule in checkout logic will be wrong on one side of the Channel.