This guide explains which Royal Mail service codes to use for each EU country from 1 July 2026, and the shipping method settings that go with them, in the legacy StoreFeeder view. If you use the current view, see Guidance for Shipping to European Countries with Royal Mail as of 1st July 2026.
What applies from 1 July 2026
From 1 July 2026, new customs charges apply to certain low-value goods entering the EU. Depending on the destination country, these charges may need to be paid by the sender before delivery or collected from the recipient.
Royal Mail settles duty and VAT in one of two ways:
- PDDP: duty and VAT are paid at despatch. You'll be billed directly for the customs fees on these orders.
- DDU: duty and VAT are collected from the recipient.
IOSS isn't a third service. An IOSS order is one where VAT has already been collected from your customer at checkout. It still travels on a PDDP or DDU service code, but for some countries the DDU shipping method needs an extra setting switched on first. See Despatching an IOSS order below.
The service codes
| Service | PDDP (duty and VAT paid at despatch) | DDU (duty and VAT collected from recipient) |
|---|---|---|
| Tracked, Large Letter | BZX | MTK |
| Tracked, Small Parcel | MPR (BZU) | MP7 (MP8) |
| Tracked, Medium / Large Parcel (DDU: Medium Parcel) | BYD (BYH, BYL, BYM) / RC1 (RC2, RC3, RC4) | HVK (HVL) / HVB (HVE) |
| International Standard, Large Letter | BZW | DG4 |
| International Standard, Small Parcel | DE6 | DE4 |
Services in brackets are extra compensation versions of the service, and are also valid.
Despatching a regular order (non-IOSS)
On a regular order no VAT has been prepaid, so duty is collected either up front (PDDP) or from the recipient on delivery (DDU). For regular orders, switch off both Is delivery duty paid allowed and Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid on the shipping method.
| Countries | Which service to use |
|---|---|
| Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden (14 countries) | PDDP or DDU. Both work, so the choice is yours. With PDDP you pay the duty; with DDU the recipient pays on delivery. |
| Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg (3 countries) | PDDP only. DDU is withdrawn for regular orders to these countries from 1 July. This applies to regular orders only: an IOSS order can still use the DDU code here, with the handling-fees setting on. |
| Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia (10 countries) | DDU only. PDDP isn't available for these countries. |
Despatching an IOSS order
IOSS orders have already had VAT collected at checkout, under Royal Mail's IOSS scheme. Book them on the DDU service codes: MTK, MP7 (MP8), HVK (HVL) / HVB (HVE), DG4 or DE4. What changes by country is whether the shipping method needs Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid switched on. Switching it on marks the DDU booking as duty-paid, so the recipient isn't charged again for duty already covered by IOSS.
| Countries | What to do |
|---|---|
| Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden (17 countries) | Book on the DDU code, with Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid switched on for that shipping method. |
| Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia (8 countries) | Book on the DDU code, with Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid switched off for that shipping method. It must be off for IOSS orders to these countries. |
| Greece, Romania (2 countries) | IOSS isn't available. IOSS orders to these countries can't be shipped through Royal Mail at this time. If you have to despatch through Royal Mail, remove the IOSS number against the order first. This means your customer will have to pay duty again. |
Changing the shipping method settings
Is delivery duty paid allowed, Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid and Default duty to £0 if not specified are one-off settings on each Royal Mail shipping method, not something you tick per order.
Because the setting belongs to the shipping method, you need two DDU shipping methods if you send both IOSS and regular orders to any of the 17 countries that need the setting on: one with Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid switched on, for IOSS orders, and one with both Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid and Is delivery duty paid allowed switched off, for regular orders.
To change these settings:
- Go to Settings > Shipping Configuration > Shipping Methods.
- Open the Royal Mail shipping method. The Edit Shipping Methods page opens.
- Switch Is delivery duty paid allowed, Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid or Default duty to £0 if not specified on or off, as described above.
- Save the shipping method.
Entering the duty amount on an order
To give Royal Mail the duty amount for a single PDDP order, enter it manually on the order's Edit Order page, then save the order.
Troubleshooting
A PDDP order fails to despatch
Check the order has a duty amount entered on the Edit Order page, or switch on Default duty to £0 if not specified on the shipping method.
"Service destination doesn't support IOSS delivery duty paid shipments"
See Error Message: Service Destination doesn't support IOSS shipments.
The recipient of an IOSS order was asked to pay duty
For the 17 countries that need it, check Allow Additional Handling Fees to be Paid is switched on for the DDU shipping method the order was booked on.
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