The Italian government has come up with a new levy: two euros for every parcel worth less than €150 moving internationally, both inbound to and outbound from Italy, without distinguishing whether the foreign country is part of the EU. For the time being, this is an amendment submitted by the executive during the approval process of the Budget Law and is due to be debated in the Senate from 11 December 2025. In practical terms, this would mean that for imports Italian consumers would be affected, as importers could pass the tax on to them, while on the export side Italian companies would face an additional cost on top of shipping charges.
That is not all. Applying the tax to goods leaving Italy would encourage exporters to send shipments to foreign logistics platforms where multiple parcels can be consolidated, thus avoiding the €2 charge on each individual parcel and effectively favouring foreign logistics operators. On the import side, this levy would in future be added to EU customs duties once the current €150 exemption threshold is abolished.
Confetra president Carlo De Ruvo has spoken out on the issue: “We are strongly opposed to the €2 contribution that would be applied to all parcels up to €150. This rule, which according to the press is taking shape in a government amendment to the Budget Bill, differs significantly from the European proposal to tax only parcels under €150 coming from non-EU countries, aimed at curbing the explosion of e-commerce during the pandemic. In this way, however, Italian businesses and citizens will be hit, leading to lower consumption in an already difficult period.”
Confetra says that, according to “direct clarifications”, the tax would apply only to imported goods, but in that case it is unclear how it would differ from a customs duty, potentially triggering intervention by the European Commission, especially if applied to intra-EU movements as well. According to De Ruvo, the measure would still risk becoming a boomerang for the Italian economy.
He adds that “the potential benefits would be limited, while the negative effects would be significant: higher costs for consumers, the risk of further inflationary pressure and a possible contraction in consumption. To fully understand the potential impact on final consumption, it is useful to recall the scale of the phenomenon at European level: in 2024 around 4.6 billion ‘low-value consignments’ entered the EU, equivalent to 12 million parcels a day. This is a critical mass that makes any regulatory intervention particularly sensitive, especially if it is not coordinated and not consistent with the real dynamics of the global digital market.”
