No Extra Fees: Sending Parcels from Poland to UK Post-Brexit

Understand the £39 threshold for gifts. Under the current UK customs regulations, parcels sent from the EU to the UK marked as “gift” are exempt from import VAT and duties up to a value of £39 (approximately 45 EUR). This means if you’re sending a gift to family or friends and the declared value is below £39, the recipient should not be charged any import fees uktrans.pl. To take advantage of this, be honest but smart in your customs declaration. If the items are used or of low value, declare their realistic second-hand value. For instance, a box of used baby clothes might be worth £10, even though new they cost £100. Keep it under £39 and mark as gift. Note: This exemption is for unsolicited gifts between individuals, not commercial purchases.

Personal shipments and “personal effects”. If you’re sending your own belongings (e.g., moving personal items or sending a forgotten jacket to someone), you can label the parcel as “personal belongings – used”. Such personal effect shipments usually do not attract customs charges, provided they clearly aren’t new goods for sale. Our company, UK-TRANS, often handles shipments of personal items and we ensure to fill out customs forms in a way that signals to UK customs: this is not a commercial import. By doing so, we help our clients avoid fees.

Avoid prohibited and duty-heavy items. One sure way to incur extra costs (or have your parcel stopped) is to include items that are subject to excise or strict controls. For example, sending alcohol or tobacco will definitely lead to duties and taxes (and these can be high!). Also, avoid sending big-ticket new electronics or expensive goods in regular mail; anything above the duty-free threshold will likely incur 20% VAT and possibly customs duty. If you must send higher-value goods, be prepared that the recipient may have to pay charges. But if your goal is “no extra fees”, stick to low-value, personal gifts and items. (For details on prohibited items post-Brexit, see our Polish article on “Czego nie wolno wysyłać…” for guidance LINK)

Properly fill out the CN22/CN23 customs form. Every parcel to the UK now requires a customs declaration form attached. This is where many people accidentally invite fees – by filling it incorrectly. Tips for the form:

• Clearly describe each item and its value, but keep valuations reasonable and under thresholds. Instead of “Brand new jacket – £100”, if it’s a gift, you might declare “Men’s winter jacket, used – £30”. Don’t obviously lie (customs officers have intuition and scanners), but do frame it accurately as a gift of modest worth.

• Tick “gift” if it truly is one. For online purchases or business shipments, you can’t do that – but those aren’t the focus of this article.

• Include harmonization codes if known (not mandatory for gifts under £39, but for higher-value items, a correct HS code can ensure proper category assessment).

• Attach an invoice or detailed list inside if it’s a bigger shipment. We sometimes put a copy of the packing list inside the parcel – it helps if customs opens the box.

By doing the paperwork properly, you reduce the chance of customs even holding the parcel for inspection, meaning no delays and no charges.

Leverage door-to-door shipping services with inclusive handling. One way to ensure you don’t face surprise fees is to use a specialized shipping service like UK-TRANS that takes care of customs clearance on your behalf. How does this help? We consolidate shipments and often handle the customs formalities in bulk. For example, if you send a small parcel with our weekly van from Poland to UK, we manage the customs entry. As long as your package contents are within duty-free limits or personal allowances, we make sure it’s declared in a way that no charges hit your doorstep. Essentially, you won’t get a random FedEx invoice post-delivery, because any necessary handling is either pre-paid or sorted out upfront. It’s a bit of an insider tip: using a Poland-UK door-to-door service can bypass the confusion of international couriers who often slap on brokerage fees.

Post-Brexit, allow extra time and avoid express couriers if possible. Express courier companies (like DHL, UPS) are efficient, but since Brexit, many recipients have complained about COD charges – they pre-pay customs then demand payment on delivery plus a fee. If avoiding fees is crucial, consider slower options that are more hands-on with customs (or, as above, a consolidated service). Also, plan ahead – sending early means you won’t be tempted to use an expensive express route which almost guarantees a customs scrutiny due to their thorough systems.

Make use of the £135 rule for e-commerce (if relevant). This article is more for personal senders, but in case you’re an online seller: know that goods valued under £135 now have VAT handled at point of sale, meaning the seller should charge UK VAT and customs shouldn’t charge the buyer anything extra. If you’re buying something from Poland to ship to UK, ensure the seller handles this, and you as the sender won’t then declare VATable goods (to avoid double taxation). For personal parcels, this usually doesn’t apply, but it’s good to be aware.

Communicate with the recipient. Let your parcel’s recipient know what you’re sending and its approximate value. If out of caution you declared, say, £45 (just above threshold), tell them. Sometimes a parcel sneaks through without charges even if a tad over – but if not, at least they’re prepared. Better yet, keep it under £39 to be safe. If the recipient unexpectedly gets a charge notification, they might refuse the parcel, which then bounces back at more cost – we want to avoid that scenario! Transparency between sender and receiver helps ensure a smooth experience.

Case study – how we do it: Recently, a client sent a 10kg box of Polish goodies to London – mainly clothes, books, some candy. We helped him fill the customs form: total value ~£30, gift, used personal items plus sweets. The parcel went with our groupage van. It arrived at the client’s door with £0 to pay – just a smile from the courier. Compare that to another person who sent similar items via a global courier, declared full new value of everything – their friend in UK had to pay ~£50 in fees on delivery. The difference? Knowing the system and using a service optimized for post-Brexit realities.