en 
Mainly Amazon, but also the likes of John Lewis, even Fortnum and Mason and online pharmacies. There was no duty or problems, and most carriers delivered in a matter days. Since Brexit everything has changed, and worst of all, what EU rules that are there seem to just get ignored.
Just to give a personal example. I ordered vitamins from the UK from Healthspan, a popular vitamin and supplement supplier. Taking care to keep to what I believed were ‘the rules’, I kept the order well under €150. About half of the order was delivered with no charges, the other half was returned to the supplier. No explanation. Healthspan returned these undelivered items in single packs. CTT demanded an invoice, which was supplied.
Interestingly they were all posted from the Netherlands, which from memory is still an EU member. Total order value €62.80, well under €150. One of the packs was returned to sender, no explanation given. The others were charged at €97.70 for customs and clearance etc.
Many people have reported similar occurrences. What seems clear is that CTT and customs make up the rules as they go along. Trying to find the regulations is quite a challenge, but The Guardian newspaper in the UK recently reported “Goods ordered from and manufactured in the UK should not attract customs duty, but products ordered from the UK worth more than that €150 and shipped from outside Britain will”.
Direct Transport, a popular transport company who have delivered UK shopping for years, now have on their website: “Thank you for your interest in our online shopping service. Unfortunately, due to regulation changes on imports from the UK, this service has been suspended due to high customs charges”.
New services on the horizon
Algarve Removals told me that the rules are far from clear and they are not aware of the under €150 rule. They did tell me that importing to the UK from the EU is free for goods under 135 Pounds Sterling. Seems remarkably near to €150, so the limit seems to work if you are importing from the EU to the UK, but not the other way around. Algarve Removals did reveal that they plan to shortly announce a new service at a very economic fixed price for delivering small personal purchases from the UK. With the problem of buying small UK items this should prove to be a very popular service. Call Algarve Removals for details. As most companies offer free delivery within the UK, the cost Algarve Removals plan to offer will be competitive with what we have paid to ship from the UK, and no nasty surprises. Expect other shippers to follow with similar offers.
Another person told me that they wanted to give a gift of a chalice to a local Church. The goods were ordered from a UK company, but unknown to this person, they were manufactured and shipped from Italy. Huge customs charges were made. The gift then had to be shipped to Portugal, and again charged substantial customs duties, for goods that originated in Italy. Appeals to either customs authority were ignored.
DECO said they did not know about this free of charge import rule, but sent information about the rules on VAT. Purchases of a value of less than €22 are exempt from VAT.
Sometimes faced with unpleasant surprises - EU
New VAT rules were implemented on 1 July. On the EU website https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/eu-consumers_en you will find this statement. “E-commerce - buying and selling of goods and services online - has seen a huge increase in recent years and is only set to continue growing. There are many obvious benefits for consumers, but sometimes consumers can be faced with unpleasant surprises, for example when buying goods from outside the EU and need to pay taxes or charges at importation”.
It goes on to say: “Due to lack of transparency, you, as the consumer, were sometimes faced with surprise costs or charges to be paid at customs on imported goods. Since 1 July 2021 though, the price you pay can be the final price, with no further calls at importation for VAT or other charges. This is only when you buy goods from a seller or an electronic interface registered in the IOSS.”
What becomes clear is that the EU is well aware of the problem and is passing legislation to try to ensure each EU country follows the same rules and makes the same import and VAT charges for imports from outside the EU. However, the general opinion from both shipping and transport professionals and readers is that CTT are making up the rules as they go along. There is no clarity and no certainty what you may, or may not, be charged if you buy online from the UK (which many of our readers do).
Don’t buy from the UK?
One argument is that we should find what we need within the EU and not import. As a firm believer in free choice that’s not an argument I can support. There are some products that are only available in the UK or they are products we have found meets our needs. Several people have reported that they get medication from the UK which is free of charge from the NHS, but in one case, costs over €3,000 in Portugal. What we all need is clarity. We need to know what it will cost to buy from the UK, then we can make an informed decision.
Resident in Portugal for 50 years, publishing and writing about Portugal since 1977. Privileged to have seen, firsthand, Portugal progress from a dictatorship (1974) into a stable democracy.
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I regulary bought vitamins from a company in the UK and received them usually within a week. My last order in June costing £66.50 took seven weeks and Custom charges were €28 plus a CTT delivery charge of €12 + IVA despite the fact that the correct postage had been paid by the supplier. Portugal fail to follow the EU directives relating to the import on used cars and no doubt will ignore any EU directives on the import of goods from the EU!
By Anna from Other on 13 Aug 2021, 12:06
Should be, "import of goods from UK"
By Anna from Other on 13 Aug 2021, 13:08
I’ve never heard of the “below 150” rule, is it a thing and is there a link somewhere? My recent experience is that nothing goes untaxed no matter how small. I even had to pay taxes on an item shipped from the US that was left out of a kit and for which I had already paid vat and clearance. Sender marked the replacement value as $10 and I was charged vat on this small amount
By Tim Gregory from Lisbon on 13 Aug 2021, 15:29
It is clear the 150€ rule is not being applied, had 2 shipments from outside the eu at less than this and had to pay duties on both. More frustrating is the inept and frankly illegal handling of exports from outside the eu by portuguese customs and /or CTT. The tax rules came imto place on 1 Jan , however there was moratorium until 1 Jul
I had 2 packages which arrived in customs in Lisbon last week in Jun however they werent processed until 2nd July so i had to pay duty even though they arrived pre end of moratorium. Then took over 1 month to clear customs. CTT allows payment of duty only on the website, which doesnt work.
Wrote to CTT complaining re this on 16th July, bit, although they are meant to reply in 10 days, nothing forthcoming. So we are stuck with an inept and overloaded customs clearance system which doesnt seem to be ready for these changes, although they have been in the pipeline for 6 months, and a privatised mail service receiving state handouts whilst providing unsatisfactory service to its clients.
By Matthew from Other on 13 Aug 2021, 21:02
Doing your paperwork through the SEF site is about half the cost of CCT. CCT are essentially doubling the import and IVA duties to cover ‘administration’ costs. Seems like profiteering to me!
By Ian from Lisbon on 14 Aug 2021, 06:31
We are being ripped off as usual in Portugal,this time by the customs and CTT.
I have also ordered vitamins and paid Vat in the UK and then I had to pay again in Portugal plus a further 2 euros service charge by the useless CTT.
I have ordered 4 things from the UK and had to fork out more taxes here each time.
To add insult to injury,the delivery times have extended to weeks,from what used to be days.
The longer I live here ,the more a corrupt den of thieves I realise I am living in.
By James from Algarve on 14 Aug 2021, 15:40
If you go to the CTT site and click on private/receive/customs clearance- new tarriff (New rules for importing online purchases made outside the EU) for customers ,there are details of payments. Note you must pay VAT in the UK on items before they are sent for the discounted rates. This new ruling is from 1st July this year.
These details are on their own site, if different costs are being made you should fill out the complaints book at the bottom of their site.
By Selina Billington from Lisbon on 15 Aug 2021, 09:55
I always used to buy health supplements from the UK before Brexit with no problems and prompt delivery but can no longer make the same claim. By the way, I chose to do this rather than buy from suppliers in Portugal because when I have tried to buy over here it has been a waste of time. For example, my order was accepted for items but then the payment was refunded because although listed on the supplier's website the products were out of stock. Since Brexit I have had one bottle of vitamins I ordered on Amazon not delivered and I don't know what happened to it, most recently I had to pay 2.50 euros Customs Clearance charge on Lutein capsules being delivered via CTT. I paid the amount via a Multibanco and had an email confirming this but when I checked my order online it couldn't be found. I sent in a complaint and eventually it was delivered. As far as I can tell, ordering from the UK is now at your own risk and you can expect slow delivery and additional charges.
By Steve Andrews from Other on 15 Aug 2021, 11:45
I have been trying to get package costing £32 since June 28th! I had a letter from CTT- which took 2 weeks to arrive - asking to complete customs clearance form. This is the most complicated form I have filled in; even the woman working in the local Post Office couldn't work it out. Trying to work out what the codes are for the goods was impossible! I guessed in the end. Friends have had birthday cards stopped! I feel there should be some concerted protest about this!
By Susan from Algarve on 16 Aug 2021, 08:27
I was sent an order some weeks ago with the value being less than £150. I received a message on the 23 Oct. to say a payment of €80.22 was due I paid this amount immediately and then On 29 October I was contacted by CTT to say they were delivering on the 2Nov. Waited in all day and they didn’t deliver. I have tried telephoning and emailing them and it seems they have blocked everything. Someone needs to step in and sort this company out.
By Chris Woods from Algarve on 10 Nov 2021, 14:57
I have just had to pay 24euros to customs on parcel that my suster sent to me from the UK. It was a gift not goods which i had purchased. Does this mean that we are going to have to oay taxes on any gufts we receive from family and friends. That’s ridiculous
By Vanessa Lucie from Alentejo on 21 Nov 2021, 08:20
I just received a letter from CTT 21/12/2021 in the Algarve - A small gift was sent to me in July 2021 from a friend in England - They are asking me to pay 0.01 GBP, IVA tax to release the gift - The Brit's are certainly being punished for leaving the EU - LOL. I say to family and friends "Do not send anything here from the UK" - They will lose out in the long run !
By Anne Beaton from Algarve on 23 Dec 2021, 13:17
Does anyone have any updates on the new rules? I was hoping to get my NHS prescription posted to me by a friend in the UK. But have no clue if privately posted medication will be allowed. I did receive Christmas cards in December from the UK, but my mum posted some teabags a few months before and it was stopped. I obviously didn't bother with all the registration with CTT etc, just for tea bags.
By Lou from Lisbon on 19 Jan 2022, 20:26