EU Proposes Flat Tax on Small Online Orders to Ease Customs
(Reuters) -The European Union plans to levy a flat fee on billions of small packages entering the bloc, mainly from China, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing a proposal.
The European Commission circulated a draft proposal on a handling fee on Monday after pressure from member states whose customs authorities are overwhelmed by the 4.6 billion items annually imported directly to people's homes, the newspaper added.
The proposal does not set a fee level, but the newspaper reported it would be about 2 euros ($2.25), citing people familiar with the commission's thinking.
($1 = 0.8902 euros)
(Reporting by Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
