Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and became one of the eurozone's newest members in January 2023, replacing the kuna with the euro. For UK sellers, the euro adoption is still genuinely useful — you can price, communicate VAT amounts, and check the €150 IOSS ceiling without any currency conversion. But note the change on 1 July 2026: the EU abolished the €150 customs duty exemption, so €150 no longer marks a duty-free zone. Post-Brexit, UK parcels enter Croatia as third-country imports, and with a 25% VAT rate, the on-delivery charge is among the higher ones in the EU.

Croatia's VAT rate: 25%

Croatia applies a standard VAT rate of 25%, sharing that rate with Denmark and Sweden near the top of the EU table — only Finland (25.5%) and Hungary (27%) charge more. VAT is applied to the total customs value — product price plus shipping — when the parcel clears Croatian customs.

For a £100 homeware order with £18 shipping, Croatian VAT at 25% on £118 comes to £30. Added to a handling fee of approximately £7, the on-delivery charge reaches around £37 — a 37% surcharge on the purchase price, and a charge big enough to trigger refused deliveries. Tell Croatian customers before they order rather than after the parcel arrives.

Import duty on UK goods

Goods that genuinely originate in the UK qualify for 0% import duty in Croatia under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Croatia is an EU member state and applies the same TCA rules as all other EU members. Standard EU duty rates apply to goods that don't meet UK origin requirements — 12% for clothing, for example. Confirm your origin status before certifying TCA preference on your commercial invoice.

The €150 figure — what changed on 1 July 2026

The €150 customs duty exemption was abolished across the EU on 1 July 2026, so there is no longer a value below which duty is automatically waived. What survives is the IOSS ceiling: sellers registered for IOSS, or selling via IOSS-covered platforms, collect Croatian VAT at checkout on consignments with an intrinsic value — the goods alone, excluding shipping — of up to €150. Here Croatia's euro adoption still earns its keep: unlike the Czech Republic (CZK), Hungary (HUF), or Romania (RON), there is no exchange rate to watch when checking orders against that ceiling.

IOSS consignments now carry a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item, in place until 1 July 2028 — levied on the seller or platform side, never as a bill at the customer's door. Outside IOSS, 25% import VAT is collected from the customer on delivery at any order value, plus a carrier handling fee, and standard tariff duty applies at any value too — unless the goods are UK-originating and you claim TCA preference with a statement on origin, which brings duty to 0%.

A practical example

A UK homeware brand ships a set of decorative items worth £100 to a customer in Zagreb.

Worked example — homeware to Croatia

Product value: £100

Shipping: £18

Total: £118 — intrinsic value £100, within the €150 IOSS ceiling

Import duty: £0 (UK origin, TCA preference claimed)

If IOSS-covered: VAT collected at checkout, no on-delivery charge (a €3 flat duty per item applies, paid seller-side)

If not IOSS-covered: Croatian VAT (25% on £118): £30

Customs handling fee: ~£7

Potential on-delivery charge if not IOSS-covered: ~£37

Understanding the full landed cost for Croatian customers at 25% VAT is essential before setting your prices or listing terms for this market.

Croatia's e-commerce market

Zagreb and Split are the primary consumption centres, but online purchasing is active across the country. Croatian consumers are generally price-conscious — adding a note about import VAT on non-IOSS orders is especially worth doing given the high 25% rate.

Croatia joined both the Schengen Area and the eurozone in January 2023. Schengen governs the movement of people rather than parcels — the customs treatment of your shipment comes from Croatia's membership of the EU customs union, which it has had since 2013.

Shipping times from the UK

Standard courier services reach Zagreb and major Croatian cities in 4–6 working days from the UK. Coastal destinations in Dalmatia (Split, Dubrovnik) are well served but may add a day for more remote areas. Some courier networks to Croatia are less developed than in western EU countries — confirm your courier's specific Croatia coverage and delivery estimates before committing to customer-facing timescales. DHL, DPD, and GLS all operate in Croatia; local carrier Overseas Express has broad domestic coverage for final-mile delivery.

Before you ship to Croatia

Calculate the on-delivery charge at 25% VAT for your typical order values, and work out whether IOSS registration pays for itself at your volumes. Include a clear note in your listings for orders that will attract charges on delivery. The hidden costs of shipping to EU customers are felt particularly acutely in high-VAT markets like Croatia, and managing customer expectations upfront is the most effective way to prevent delivery refusals and returns.