Canary Islands: customs from Spain with Correos
Understanding the Canary Islands regimen
Due to this special zone, the Canary Islands are not subject to the harmonized VAT system, sales taxes are the responsibility of national or local authorities. There is a local tax on consumption, the IGIC (Impuesto General Indirecto de Canarias) with different rates and another tax on the consumption of some product groups, the AIEM. The AIEM has different rates and varies depending on the product group. The applicable rate of AIEM for affected products can be consulted here.
Originally, the AIEM was intended to strengthen companies in the Canary Islands, as the AIEM is levied on articles that are also produced locally and the intention was to make the import of such articles from outside the Canary Islands to the Canary Islands unattractive.
Carrier will contact the end customer to clear taxes and complete customs procedures when required.
Customs Taxes
Low Value Parcels → Less than 150 EUR
Considered Low Value only when the items in the parcel are not subject to AIEM or special/customs regulations)
- IGIC (General Indirect Canary Islands Tax): not charged to end customer
- Simplified DUA (Customs Declaration): Correos handles the customs process directly with the Customs agency - you shall not contact the end customer.
High Value Parcels→ 150 EUR or more
Items subject to AIEM are processed as High Value (even when the item value is less than 150 EUR).
- IGIC: charged to end customer - the value depends on the HS code of the product
- AIEM: charged to end customer - the value depends on the HS code of the product
- Ordinary DUA: charged to end customer - the value is supposed to be 14.42€ / fix amount.
- Correos contacts the end customer by email and/or letter with the notice of parcel arrival document titled "AVISO DE LLEGADA DE ENVIO POSTAL SUJETOS A TRAMITES ADUANEROS".
- Customer must reply with confirmation they wish Correos to act as customs agent on their behalf (recommended) or if they will use 3rd party agent or carry out self-clearance.
- Customer must include DNI/NIF/NIE number in the “notice of Arrival”. Passport or other document number will not be accepted.
The process will be expedited if the commercial invoice is also sent by the end customer. You can download this document from the Bigblue app order page and send to your customer.
(The physical invoice will always be attached to the shipment for customs clearance)
- It is not necessary to send the payment receipt (update from October 2023).
Final customer can pay taxes in person at Correos post office (recommended) or by bank transfer.