After France passed its small parcel tax law, some Connexion readers have been asked to pay a €2 fee on magazine subscriptions arriving from outside the EU.
One of the publications affected by this tax rule is Private Eye, which, in an email to affected subscribers in France, said it had become aware of delays and additional charges linked to the new French rules:
“Although we already pay the IOSS tax, the French Post Office has started classifying our magazine as a small parcel and wants to charge the new €2 parcel tax.”
The publisher also added that it may need to increase subscription prices if the situation continues.
How does this apply to magazines?
The Connexion contacted La Poste to better understand the situation. According to them, magazines are not treated as correspondence but as goods (marchandises) for customs purposes, as they have commercial value. Only letters are considered correspondence in this context.
La Poste also stated that the application of the fee depends on the electronic customs declaration provided by the sender, including the nature and value of the contents. This information is transmitted to French customs, and treatment as goods is triggered on the basis of the sender’s declaration, particularly the nature and value indicated.
As a result, similar publications may be handled differently in practice depending on how they are declared and processed during shipping.
When asked whether there are ways for publishers to avoid the fee, La Poste did not provide specific guidance, but indicated that the treatment of an item depends on the sender’s declaration.
Reader case: why a £1 magazine triggered an €11 charge
One reader contacted The Connexion after being asked to pay €11 to receive a UK publication, despite it arriving in what appeared to be a standard A4 envelope.
Costoms declaration details can be found hereprovided by the reader
The item (a newsletter from the Wyndham Lewis Society), had been sent by Royal Mail as an international “Large Letter” weighing 135g and marked as “documents”. However, the customs declaration also described the contents as a “magazine” and gave it a value of £1.
Under French customs rules, that combination is enough for the item to be treated as goods rather than correspondence. The presence of a declared value,even a nominal one, means the item is considered an import.
The note left by La Posteprovided by the reader
As a result, it can be routed through the parcel (“colis”) system and become subject not only to France’s €2 flat fee on low-value imports, but also to handling charges applied by La Poste when customs formalities are required.
This helps explain why the reader was charged €11 in total, despite the item being lightweight and labelled as documents. It also highlights how the classification depends primarily on the sender’s customs declaration data, rather than the format or appearance of the envelope.
What is France’s €2 “small parcel” charge?
France introduced a €2 charge on low-value parcels arriving from outside the EU as part of its 2026 budget, with the measure coming into force on 1 March.
The fee applies to goods valued at under €150 that are sent into France from non-EU countries, including the UK and the US. It is charged in addition to any VAT that may already be due or has been paid via systems such as IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop).
The measure is primarily aimed at high volumes of low-cost goods ordered online, particularly from international e-commerce platforms.
Unlike VAT, the €2 charge is a flat fee applied per customs declaration line (not strictly per parcel), regardless of the type of goods, as long as they fall within the value threshold.
In practice, it is usually charged per parcel because most parcels correspond to a single declaration line. However, if a parcel contains multiple distinct items requiring separate declaration lines, the fee can apply more than once.
The charge applies when an item is processed as a parcel (“colis”) rather than as standard correspondence, based on electronic customs data submitted before arrival in France.
From July 2026, the EU plans to introduce a €3 customs handling fee on incoming parcels across all member states. Later in 2026, a separate EU-wide €2 charge is expected to replace this fee, meaning national measures such as France’s would be removed and only the €2 EU charge would apply.
