Romania removes its 25 RON charge on low-value parcels
Romania's 25 lei logistics tax no longer applies to parcels handed to recipients from 1 November 2026. The delivery date decides which rules apply, with a specific refund requirement for tax collected on those later deliveries.
- Who this affects
- UK online retailers sending covered low-value distance-sale parcels to Romanian customers, and businesses checking separately billed Romanian logistics tax.
- Seller action
- Check before sending affected goods
Check the recipient handover date and any separately itemised 25 RON tax. For tax collected on a delivery from 1 November, ask the collecting postal provider about the statutory return of that amount; keep the invoice and delivery evidence.
- Effective dates / current position
- Tax removed for recipient handover from this date: — In forceTiming follows the confirmed published schedule; it is not a fresh legal review. The cutoff is recipient handover, not UK dispatch or customs clearance. Earlier deliveries retain old obligations; refunds are limited to amounts collected as this tax on later deliveries. Bucharest calendar time is a display convention, not a carrier cutoff. Date-only changes use the calendar day in Europe/Bucharest.
- Last reviewed
- 8 Nov 2026 — an editorial source check, separate from automatic timing.
- Official source
- Open the primary source ↗
What has changed?
Romania has repealed its national 25 lei (RON) logistics tax on low-value imported parcels. The tax is not due for parcels handed to their recipients from 1 November 2026.
The old charge covered commercial distance-sale parcels whose delivery started outside the EU, with a declared value below EUR 150, entering Romania. It applied regardless of where the goods were released into free circulation in the EU. This made it relevant to UK online retailers shipping orders to Romanian customers.
The date that matters
Use the date the parcel was handed to its recipient. The repeal is not based on the UK dispatch date or the date of customs clearance.
For parcels handed to recipients by 31 October 2026 inclusive, the old rules continue to apply. That includes collection, declaration and payment of the tax, record keeping, checks and penalties.
A simple example
A covered parcel dispatched from Britain on 30 October and handed to its recipient on 2 November falls under the later-delivery rule. A parcel handed over on 31 October remains subject to the old obligations, even if it is billed in November.
If the tax was collected on a later delivery
For parcels handed to recipients from 1 November 2026, postal service providers must not pass amounts collected as this logistics tax to the state budget. They must return those amounts to the people or businesses from whom they collected them, within 30 days of the parcel being handed over.
This is a specific refund rule for those later deliveries. It is not a general refund of tax on parcels delivered before 1 November.
What online retailers should check
Check Romanian delivery records and any separately itemised 25 RON logistics-tax charges. If the tax appears against a delivery made from 1 November 2026, ask the postal or delivery provider to explain the charge and confirm the refund arrangements. Keep the invoice and delivery evidence.
The repeal concerns this Romanian national logistics tax. Check other customs, tax and delivery charges separately when pricing an order.
Official sources
- OUG 43/2026, Articles XIX–XXI: repeal, delivery cutoff and refunds ↗
- Law 239/2025, current consolidation: Article XXII repealed ↗
- Law 239/2025, historical Article XXII: original 25 lei tax scope ↗
Updates to this article
First published after recovering and checking OUG 43/2026 Articles XIX–XXI, the current parent-law consolidation and the historical 25 lei scope. Distinguished recipient handover from dispatch, retained earlier delivery obligations and limited refunds to tax collected on deliveries from 1 November.