Singles' Day buys from abroad: VAT and customs above £135, and your rights

What's happening

Wednesday 11 November is Singles' Day, one of the biggest sale days of the year on sites such as AliExpress. If you buy from a seller outside the UK, the checkout price may not be the last thing you pay, and your rights work differently. The number to watch is £135.

At a glance

• £135 or less: if you buy it yourself, the seller should already have included VAT in your price, and there's no customs duty, unless it's alcohol, tobacco or vapes.
• Over £135: you pay import VAT to the delivery company before delivery or on collection, plus any customs duty.
• Gifts from abroad worth £39 or less are free of VAT.
• Unpaid parcels are normally held for about 3 weeks, then sent back.

How the charges work

GOV.UK says VAT is charged on all goods sent from outside the UK, except gifts worth £39 or less. For goods worth £135 or less that you buy yourself, "the seller will have included VAT in the total you paid." Above £135, the delivery company collects import VAT from you, either before it delivers or when you collect. VAT is worked out on the total value of the package, including postage, packaging, insurance and any duty, and the standard rate is 20%.

Customs duty applies to goods worth more than £135, and to excise goods, such as alcohol, pre-filled vapes, vaping liquid and tobacco, at any value. The rate depends on what the goods are and where they're from, and you can look it up on the government's Trade Tariff service. Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier will send you a bill "stating exactly which fees you need to pay". If you haven't paid it after about 3 weeks, the parcel goes back to the sender.

A worked example

This is an illustration using a code on our AliExpress page on 8 November. Priya fills her basket with £185 of winter clothes and uses code 26NOVBD30 for £30 off, so she pays £155. That's more than £135. Unless the checkout says import taxes are already included, she could get a bill for import VAT at 20% of the package's full value, which is at least £31 before any postage or duty, plus any charge the delivery company adds.

A £120 order, by contrast, would have VAT built into the price she paid, with no duty and no second bill. So look at the final total as well as the discount, and check whether taxes are included before you pay.

Your rights with a seller abroad

Citizens Advice says your rights might be different with a seller outside the UK, and suggests starting with the seller's own complaints process, or the marketplace's dispute process if you bought through one such as eBay or Etsy. If that gets you nowhere, the UK International Consumer Centre (UKICC) gives free, impartial help to UK shoppers in disputes with traders based abroad.

How you paid still matters. A single item over £100 and up to £30,000 bought on a credit card may be covered by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, and debit cards have chargeback, though both can be harder when you buy through a marketplace. Our guide to section 75 and chargeback explains the difference. If you paid by PayPal, Citizens Advice says you have 180 days from when you paid to open a dispute.

What's changing

The customs duty break for goods worth £135 or less is going. On 23 June 2026, HMRC said it was bringing the change forward by six months, to October 2028, after which "goods valued at £135 or less will be subject to customs import duties." Nothing changes this Christmas.

What to do now

1. Check where the seller is based before you buy, on the product page or in the terms.
2. Look at the final total. If it's over £135, check whether import VAT and duty are included, or will be billed on delivery.
3. Only pay a customs bill you're expecting, from the company actually delivering your parcel. Fake "fee to pay" texts are common before Christmas, so read our guide to spotting a parcel scam.
4. Sending something back? You can ask for the VAT or duty to be refunded, using form BOR 286 for Royal Mail or Parcelforce deliveries, or form C285 for other couriers.

Questions

Is the £135 per item or per parcel? GOV.UK works out VAT on the total value of the package, so think about the whole parcel, not each item.

Are presents from family abroad taxed? Gifts worth £39 or less are free of VAT. Above that, you pay VAT to the delivery company, and gifts worth more than £135 can attract customs duty too.

Ways to save

Our AliExpress page lists 11.11 codes valid until 18 November, including £30 off orders over £185 (26NOVBD30) and £83 off orders over £480 (26NOVBD83), and AliExpress offers free returns within 90 days. Both orders still top £135 after the discount. For anything big, compare the all-in price with a UK retailer such as Argos before you buy.

When you shop through Voucher Magpie, part of the commission the shop pays us goes to the charity or club you pick. You pay the same price.

Sources: Citizens Advice: Solve an ongoing consumer problem with a business seller, 8 Nov 2026, GOV.UK: Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad, 8 Nov 2026, GOV.UK: VAT rates, GOV.UK: Government backs high street with acceleration of cheap import reforms, 23 Jun 2026, GOV.UK: UK International Consumer Centre, Citizens Advice: Getting your money back if you paid by card or PayPal, Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75