Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has claimed online shoppers are being hit with a €10 charge on small items.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, said the €3 tax on small parcels is triggering an additional €7 charge.
Teachta Doherty said “At the start of the month online shoppers were hit with a new EU-wide €3 customs charge.
“This has been a nasty shock for many people since it came in.
“It has been even worse than expected as instead of €3 people are being hit with a €10 charge.
“This is because for many items the €3 customs charge is triggering a €7 An Post admin fee.
“This is not the fault of An Post as they are being asked to take on more and more work collecting taxes.
“An Post opposed the introduction of the initial charge saying it would have a ‘severe impact’.”
Deputy Doherty said the EU €3 small parcel tax puts all the burden and responsibility on ordinary people and postal services member states while letting online giants like Shein and Temu off the hook.
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“If this charge was applied at source, it would not trigger the extra €7.
“Instead of holding these corporations to account the EU is dumping all the responsibility on ordinary people by applying badly designed taxes on individual items.
“Sinn Féin have raised serious concerns with the government before the introduction of the €3 charge.
“The European Commission needs to go back to the drawing board and suspend this charge. We need to see the Irish government actively using their influence to make this happen.”