UK to Ireland customs: documents and delivery charges

An Irish customer has paid for an order, yet the parcel is waiting for a customs payment. Often the missing piece is not postage: it is an unclear agreement about import VAT, duty or the operator’s clearance fee. For a UK shop, the useful preparation happens before collection. Know where the goods leave from, which declaration route the operator uses and what your checkout actually includes. This guide covers sales dispatched from England, Scotland or Wales to the Republic of Ireland, using official guidance checked on 9 October 2026.

Is the parcel going to Ireland or Northern Ireland? #

Check the full delivery country rather than the customer’s use of the word Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is an EU destination. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and has separate arrangements for goods. A delivery to Belfast and a delivery to Dublin therefore cannot share a customs decision just because both addresses are on the same island. Build the distinction into your address review before you buy a label or quote a final price.

The dispatch address matters too. Revenue distinguishes trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland from imports arriving from Great Britain. A UK business name, a pound-denominated invoice or a UK website does not establish where its stock is. Ask the supplier or fulfilment partner for the physical origin. Goods shipped from Great Britain through Northern Ireland for an Irish customer still need the relevant import formalities; routing the box through Northern Ireland is not a way to remove them.

Which documents should a UK shop prepare? #

For a business export from Great Britain, start with your GB EORI and the information the operator needs to handle the export. Give the invoice an order reference that also appears in your dispatch record. Describe each product specifically enough for classification, with its quantity, actual sale value, currency and origin information. Show freight and insurance separately where they are included in the price. Ask which documents must accompany the parcel and which details must be submitted electronically.

• Seller and recipient details that match the order, plus a working email address or telephone number for clearance queries.
• An invoice identifying the goods, quantities, values, currency and shipment reference.
• The correct commodity classification and any product-specific licence or certificate.
• Origin evidence where preferential treatment is being claimed, rather than an unsupported “UK goods” description.
• Confirmation of who submits the export and import declarations, and who is billed for clearance.

Revenue’s import guidance says the Irish declaration is made electronically through its Automated Import System. Your operator or agent may do that work, but needs accurate information from you. Do not give the customer a customs form to complete unless you know that is the intended service. Equally, buying a transport label is not evidence that every customs requirement has been satisfied. Keep the operator’s confirmation with the order so you can answer a query without reconstructing the shipment.

Who pays Irish import VAT and customs charges? #

Separate what is legally due from how your delivery agreement collects it. Revenue describes arrangements where import charges are paid at checkout and arrangements where the operator collects them before releasing the parcel. If you promise a final delivered price, confirm that the service can bill the relevant charges to you. “Shipping included” only explains transport unless your terms also explain import charges. It is a poor substitute for saying whether the buyer will receive a separate request for payment.

Ask for the operator’s own clearance or administration fee as a separate item. Revenue does not set that fee, and one company’s charge is not a tax rate for Ireland. Do not copy a handling amount from an example into your checkout. Your customer needs the rule for this shipment, while your margin calculation needs the actual operator charge. If the operator cannot confirm the collection arrangement, resolve that before offering an all-inclusive delivery promise.

What changes when the order uses IOSS? #

Revenue limits IOSS to eligible distance sales of goods dispatched from outside the EU in consignments with an intrinsic value no higher than €150, excluding excise goods. With a valid IOSS process, VAT is collected on the sale rather than again at import. Check that your operator receives the relevant IOSS information through its supported customs channel. A checkout line labelled VAT is not, on its own, proof that the import declaration will use IOSS correctly.

The Irish low-value duty rules changed on 1 July 2026, so an old statement that every purchase below €150 is duty-free is no longer a suitable customer explanation. Keep VAT, customs duty and the operator’s fee separate. Revenue specifically explains that customs duty may be collected at checkout or through the delivery operator. If VAT appears to have been charged twice, compare the checkout invoice with the customs assessment and ask the seller and operator which part of the data failed.

How can you check a higher-value import calculation? #

For an order above the IOSS limit, use the product’s actual tariff treatment and the Irish VAT rate that applies to that product. The standard VAT rate is 23%, but some goods have a different rate. Revenue’s published laptop example is useful because it shows how transport and insurance enter the calculation even where the customs duty rate is zero. The figures below reproduce the arithmetic of that official example; they are not an AirPost or carrier quote.

The calculation does not establish that every product attracts zero duty. For another item, check its classification and origin before choosing the rate. If duty is payable, it also enters the VAT base under Revenue’s calculation method. Keep the assessed customs value and VAT base visible in your cost sheet. A percentage applied only to the retail item price can understate the amount. Where the original invoice is in pounds, ask which customs conversion was used instead of mixing your checkout conversion with the assessment.

Do UK-made products arrive without any import bill? #

Qualifying UK-origin products can receive preferential customs treatment under the trade agreement, when the origin rules and claim requirements are met. Goods merely stored or resold in Britain do not gain that status from the dispatch address. Obtain the evidence for the particular product and give it to the agent handling the claim. Import VAT is a separate question: a zero customs tariff does not make an ordinary taxable sale exempt from Irish VAT.

For the wider carrier and Brexit comparison, see shipping from the UK to the EU after Brexit. Use that background alongside this Irish document checklist, rather than replacing a declaration with a general assumption about UK trade. If you change suppliers or a product’s materials, check whether the old origin evidence still describes what you are sending.

What should you do if the Irish parcel is held? #

Find the operator’s latest message and identify the missing action: invoice evidence, a description, recipient information, authorisation or payment. Send the specific requested document with the tracking and invoice reference. Tell the buyer who is dealing with it and whether they need to respond. Rebooking another label does not answer a customs query on the parcel already in transit. Avoid giving a fresh arrival date until the operator confirms release and movement.

If the buyer disputes a charge, separate tax from administration before contacting anyone. A tax assessment, an operator fee and a VAT amount already paid to the seller have different correction routes. Preserve the original records and the final outcome. After the order, update the instruction that caused the problem so the next Irish parcel uses the corrected data. A useful dispatch record shows what was submitted, who submitted it and what the customer was told.

Could recurring Irish orders leave from local stock? #

For repeat sales, AirPost’s local fulfilment model lets a suitable verified sender hold an agreed batch and pack customer orders from home. A UK shop still has to arrange the batch import correctly and check its Irish tax setup. The later ordinary domestic parcels can leave from that cleared stock. This changes where the customer order starts; it does not erase the import of the stock or appoint the sender as your customs representative.

Compare the batch transport, import arrangements, packaging, sender fee and domestic labels with your current complete cost. Confirm a sender’s space and dispatch routine before moving goods. Start with the products you can actually replenish and identify. The Ireland stock guide explains that arrangement in more detail. Keep direct UK dispatch available for products outside the trial so the experiment does not create an unsupported delivery promise.