Ukraine advances a bill to end VAT-free low-value parcels — first reading only, not yet law

What changed in detail

This is a first-reading vote, not an enacted law. Nothing described here takes effect unless and until a second reading and presidential signature follow.

On 16 September 2026 Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada adopted in first reading (“прийняла за основу” — literally “adopted as a basis”) reworked draft law No. 16051-1 amending the Tax Code and draft law No. 15460 amending the Customs Code. As passed in first reading, the package would end the VAT exemption for low-value goods (up to EUR 150) purchased through marketplaces and imported via international postal or express shipments — applying VAT on such imports from EUR 0 — while keeping the existing EUR 45 exemption for private, non-commercial parcels. The government states the Tax Code and Customs Code provisions are intended to enter into force no earlier than July 2027.

This package supersedes draft law No. 15112-d, which failed to gain the votes needed on 1 September 2026 and did not advance.

What it means

A first-reading vote is the bill clearing one procedural stage, not a rule anyone needs to apply yet — it still needs a second reading and the President’s signature, and the government’s own no-earlier-than-July-2027 target is itself conditional on that happening. The one working detail worth tracking now is the threshold design: unlike a simple exemption cut, this version would tax marketplace-ordered parcels from EUR 0 while leaving the EUR 45 exemption in place for private, non-commercial parcels — so the eventual rule (if enacted) will turn on how a shipment is classified, not only on its value. No action is warranted before a second reading.