United Kingdom: the £135 customs relief on small parcels will disappear by October 2028
On 13 July 2026, HM Revenue and Customs published its response to the consultation on customs reform for low-value imports, confirming the withdrawal of the customs duty relief granted to parcels worth less than £135, by October 2028 at the latest. This deadline, brought forward by six months from the original March 2029 timetable, had been announced on 23 June 2026 as part of a support package for British retail.
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Low-value commercial imports of £135 or less currently benefit from customs duty relief in the United Kingdom. The volume of parcels moved under this regime has more than tripled in recent years, driven by the growth of direct-to-consumer platforms, prompting the British government to open a twelve-week consultation between December 2025 and March 2026.
On 23 June 2026, as part of a package of measures to support local high-street trade, the government announced that it would bring forward the withdrawal of this relief by six months, now scheduled for October 2028 at the latest. The official summary of consultation responses, published on 13 July 2026, confirms this timetable and sets out the new mechanism chosen.
Under this new regime, it will no longer be the one-off importer who has to pay duty on entry, but the overseas distance seller or the online marketplace facilitating the sale, who will be liable for VAT and customs duty, payable to HMRC on a quarterly basis after the goods enter the United Kingdom.
British retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Next had called for the swift introduction of a levy on small parcels from abroad, in a move that parallels the European Union, which has applied, since 1 July 2026, a flat duty of 3 euros per distinct item on parcels entering the EU from a third country.
What it changes for an importer
For a Sorva client shipping small quantities to British individuals by post or courier, the £135 relief will remain in force until 2028 at the latest, but the direction of the reform is clear: the burden of VAT and duty will shift to the seller or the marketplace, with a quarterly declaration to HMRC. Sorva can already help prepare the switch towards consolidated commercial shipments rather than individual parcels, and check origin documentation with the Chinese factories concerned.
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