Small parcels: the Italian tax is postponed yet again; implementation is now scheduled for 1 January 2027
The postponement of the 2-euro levy has been included in the new decree on funding for the road haulage sector. This is the fourth postponement: each month of suspension results in 20.4 million in lost revenue
Key points
The Italian tax on small parcels has been postponed yet again. The introduction of the €2 levy on non-EU consignments valued at less than €150 is now scheduled for 1 January 2027, rather than 1 December. The postponement is set out in Article 1 of the decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers, alongside provisions for the road haulage sector.
The fast-track procedure in the Council of Ministers
The two measures had been included in the same government amendment to the motor vehicle tax decree (Decree-Law 162/2026), which was tabled and shelved on Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies’ Finance Committee. To make the funds immediately available to businesses, the amendment has been incorporated as an article in the new decree, which has also incorporated the postponement of the levy. This means the postponement will not have to wait for the conversion of the motor vehicle tax decree, which is due by 16 November.
It ‘costs’ 20.4 million every month
This is the fourth postponement of the national levy. Introduced by the 2026 Budget Act to come into force on 1 January, it was postponed to July, then to October and finally, under the motor vehicle tax decree, to 1 December. According to the technical reports, each month of suspension results in a shortfall of 20.4 million euros in revenue, calculated on the basis of the estimated revenue when the measure was introduced. By December, the total shortfall therefore rises to over 122 million.
Taxation gets underway in Brussels
Meanwhile, the crackdown on small parcels has begun at European level. A flat-rate tariff of 3 euros on goods worth less than 150 euros has been in force since 1 July, which has reduced the flow of goods by almost 40 per cent in the first two months. From 1 November, a €2 EU handling fee – the charge for customs processing of consignments – will be added. With the postponement of the national levy, only the two European measures will therefore apply to low-value non-EU purchases until the end of the year, amounting to a total of €5 per consignment from 1 November.
