Import levies

If you import goods, certain taxes and levies apply. You will have to pay import levies (invoerheffingen), these include:

• import duties
• VAT
• excise duties and consumption taxes
• anti-dumping duties

How much to pay

How much you have to pay in import levies depends on the kind of product and the country of origin. You can find this information in the European Commission’s TARIC database. Sometimes, you (temporarily) do not have to pay any or less import duties.

Tariff suspension

Do you import raw materials and semi-finished products from outside the EU? Are these materials not available in the EU or is there a shortage? In that case you can apply to have the import duty suspended. You have to fulfil the conditions:

• You process the raw materials or semi-finished products yourself.
• The product is unavailable within the EU or there is a shortage and there are no similar or competing products on the EU market.
• Import levies exceed € 15,000 a year.

The European Commission will assess your application. They discuss incoming applications with the relevant EU industries. If there is a company within the EU that stocks the material you are planning to import, they can object to tariff suspension.