Austrian parcel tax: what it means for Amazon sellers

Since 1 October 2026 Austria has a parcel tax: 2 euros per delivered parcel. The debtor is a mail-order trader with more than 100 million euros of mail-order turnover in Austria in the previous financial year. For sales through a marketplace, the turnover counts as the marketplace's. As a small seller you therefore do not pay it yourself.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In brief

Debtor: The mail-order trader above 100 million euros; for marketplace sales the law counts the turnover as the marketplace's.
Buyer: At Amazon the tax shows as its own line at checkout, not in the item price.
OSS: No source we opened says that the parcel tax changes your OSS return for Austria.

Who owes the parcel tax?

The Austrian Parcel Tax Act (PakStG) says (in translation): "The mail-order trader is the tax debtor." (section 4 PakStG) A mail-order trader is someone who makes mail-order sales and whose turnover in parcels in Austria "exceeded 100 million euros in the previous financial year" (section 2(4) PakStG). The tax is "2 euros per delivered parcel" (section 3(1)); the trader may also calculate it per order (section 3(2)).

For marketplaces the law says that sales a trader supports through an electronic interface such as a marketplace "are deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be made by that trader". The Austrian Ministry of Finance adds: "Once the turnover threshold is exceeded, the online marketplace is therefore the parcel tax debtor for these sales." Where you are based does not matter: "The residence of the mail-order trader plays no role for the parcel tax."

Only B2C sales are covered, that is sales to non-businesses such as private individuals and to threshold purchasers as long as they give no VAT ID: according to the ministry, only goods "sold within mail-order sales to recipients under Art. 3(4) UStG" (the Austrian VAT Act 1994, annex on the internal market) count.

What does the buyer see, and what do you see?

Amazon's customer help page says the tax applies to deliveries to an Austrian address, including items from third-party sellers: "This applies equally to items sold by Amazon and by third-party sellers on the Marketplace." It appears "as a separate line item in your order overview at checkout". The page gives 2.00 euros, 2.40 euros with 20 % VAT. It does not apply if the buyer applies a validated Austrian or EU VAT ID to the order. Amazon also writes: "Amazon complies with the legal requirements and remits the parcel tax to the Austrian authorities."

How the fee appears in your Amazon reports, we could not check: the Seller Central help pages on it could not be opened for this text. Read the current description in Seller Central.

What changes in your OSS return for Austria?

Your sale to a private customer in Austria, shipped by you or for you from Germany, remains a distance sale: a supply transported or dispatched "from the territory of one Member State to the territory of another Member State" to the buyer (section 3c(1) UStG). Austria's standard rate is, per the EU's "Your Europe" site, 20 % (as checked there on 13 July 2026). All rates are in OSS VAT rates of the EU countries at a glance, the filing steps in Amazon OSS: when it applies, which report, how to file.

The place of this distance sale is in Austria (section 3c(1) sentence 1 UStG); OSS supplies "are subject to the VAT rate that applies in the Member State in which the supply is taxable" (BZSt, in translation). Amazon charges the parcel tax to the buyer as its own line at checkout and remits it itself. Whether it belongs to the taxable amount of your sale, no source we opened answers.

Does this apply to eBay and your own shop?

We found no eBay page that deals with the parcel tax. The law ties the tax to the 100 million euro threshold and to the electronic interface. Where mail-order turnover is below the threshold, "the trader does not have to pay parcel tax", says the ministry. That includes your own web shop below the threshold.

Common mistakes

Assuming you must declare the parcel tax. The debtor is the trader above the threshold; the law counts marketplace sales as the marketplace's, which owes the tax if it is above the threshold.
Adding the fee to the item price. Amazon shows it as its own line.
Mixing up the parcel tax and VAT. If you take part in the OSS, you report the VAT on your distance sales to Austria through the OSS; the trader reports the parcel tax "electronically via FinanzOnline".

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for Amazon and eBay sellers in Germany: your OSS return first, then VAT, EÜR, trade tax and income tax, calculated and filed in one place.

You upload your Amazon and eBay CSV reports, and VAT GPT breaks the VAT down for Germany and the EU (OSS).
VAT GPT calculates the OSS return for all EU countries, Austria included.
From the figures, VAT GPT prepares the VAT return (monthly or quarterly).

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Frequently asked questions

Since when does the parcel tax apply? Since 1 October 2026, according to About Amazon.

How high is it? 2 euros per delivered parcel (section 3 PakStG); Amazon charges it once per order, 2.40 euros with 20 % VAT.

Do I as a seller in Germany have to report anything to Austria? By the law the tax is owed by the mail-order trader above the threshold; the law counts marketplace sales as the marketplace's. Where your mail-order turnover is below the threshold, "the trader does not have to pay parcel tax", says the ministry.

Is it charged to business customers? According to Amazon's customer help, not if the buyer applies a validated Austrian or EU VAT ID to the order.

Where does the fee appear in my Amazon reports? We could not check this, see above.