Shipping from the UK to France: duties, VAT and landed costs explained

France is one of the UK's most important EU export markets, and one of the most common destinations for small business shipments — clothing, food, cosmetics, homeware, gifts. If you ship to French customers, here's what they'll be charged when your parcel arrives, and who does the charging.

France's VAT rate

France's standard VAT rate is 20%. It's applied to the CIF value of your shipment — product value, plus shipping, plus any applicable duty — when the parcel clears French customs.

For a £150 product shipped to Paris with £11 shipping and 0% duty, your French customer faces a VAT bill of around £32 on delivery.

Import duty under the UK-EU TCA

Like Germany, France applies EU Combined Nomenclature duty rates to UK imports. Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, many UK-made goods qualify for 0% duty — handmade products, ceramics, most clothing, art, jewellery, and homeware frequently attract no duty at all.

Products that may attract duty include certain textiles not meeting rules of origin, some processed foods, and specific industrial goods. Check your product's commodity code if you're unsure.

The €150 figure — and what changed in July 2026

€150 used to mark the customs duty exemption. The EU abolished that exemption on 1 July 2026, so the figure now matters for one thing only: IOSS. If you (or your platform) are registered for IOSS, VAT on orders with an intrinsic value up to €150 — goods only, shipping excluded — is collected at your checkout, and those low-value consignments carry a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item until 1 July 2028, paid on the seller or platform side rather than at your customer's door. Without IOSS, French customs collects VAT from your customer on delivery at any order value, with a carrier handling fee on top — and this, not the €150 line, is where most of the trouble starts. Duty on non-IOSS shipments is now owed at any value too, unless your goods are UK-originating and you claim TCA preference with a statement on origin, which brings it to 0%.

French customs handling fees

French carriers typically charge a customs clearance fee of €8–15 per shipment requiring customs collection — including duty-free parcels where VAT is collected on delivery. This is charged to the recipient on top of VAT and any duty. It's a relatively small amount but it adds to the surprise factor for customers who weren't expecting any additional charges.

A real example

A UK clothing brand ships a dress worth £120 and a jacket worth £95 in a single parcel to a customer in Lyon. Total order value: £215.

A £56 bill at the door on a £215 order is a 26% surcharge. Customers who weren't warned frequently refuse.

What to do before your next French shipment

Calculate the full landed cost using ClearShip, then decide whether to communicate it to your customer upfront or build it into your pricing via DDP shipping. Either approach is better than leaving your French customer with a surprise bill. And if Ireland is also on your delivery map, we've covered that route in a separate guide.