Receiving Parcels and Mail in Portugal: Americans and Britons

Mail and parcels reach you in Portugal through CTT, the postal operator, at the address and seven digit postal code you give; when nobody is home, the item goes to a CTT pickup point with a notice. A parcel sent from the US or the UK is a non-EU parcel: it goes through customs whatever its value, and CTT clears it for you online if the seller has not already collected VAT and duty.

This guide reports what CTT, the Tax Authority (AT), the European Commission and the regulator ANACOM say. It is a summary, not legal advice. We read the pages on 19 October 2026. The most recent change among them is the Commission’s page on the temporary EUR 3 customs duty, last updated 20 July 2026, so that is the date of this guide’s information; CTT’s own page on the end of the duty exemption carries an update line of 24 June 2026. If you are shipping a household rather than ordering online, start with our guide to shipping belongings to Portugal. Mail is one task in your first month of paperwork and your first year of settling in.

How should I write my address so mail reaches me?

CTT’s addressing page lists the parts of a Portuguese address and the order to write them. A sender who follows it gives the carrier everything it needs.

CTT says the postal designation is the city’s name in cities and is based on the parish name elsewhere. Its site has a tool to find postal codes. Our guide to proving your address in Portugal covers the documents that go with it.

If you have no fixed address yet, CTT’s Posta Restante service keeps mail for you in a CTT shop of your choice. Senders address it with your name, “Posta Restante” with the name of the shop, and the shop’s address. CTT says ordinary mail is kept until the last day of the month after it arrived, registered mail for 6 working days, and parcels for 15 days; it excludes court and administrative notices, such as from the tax authority, and express parcels. You pay only for what you collect: EUR 1.46 per item up to 100 g, EUR 2.11 up to 2 kg and EUR 4.48 up to 30 kg, plus VAT. You show ID at the shop.

What happens when nobody is home?

CTT says the item then goes to a pickup point (a CTT shop, a CTT point, a Locky locker or a Payshop agent), is sent for a new attempt if the sender paid for one, or is returned to the sender with no way to cancel the return. Ordinary letters go in the mailbox, and a notice is left only when a bulky item or a registered letter could not be delivered. A postal parcel goes straight to a pickup point unless home delivery was bought.

The notice tells you where to collect and by when. It comes on paper in your mailbox, or by SMS or email. CTT says that if no Portuguese mobile number or valid email is linked to the shipment, the notice is left on paper, so give the seller a working contact when you order. Our guide to mobile phone and internet contracts covers getting a Portuguese number.

The deadline depends on the type of item and counts working days from the working day after the date of the notice.

To collect, CTT says to bring the notice and an ID. It accepts, among others, a passport, a residence title or card, a driving licence showing full name, signature and photo, and the id.gov.pt digital ID on a phone for Portuguese nationals. Someone collecting for you needs their own ID and the notice signed by you. You can check on the CTT site that the item is ready before you go. If the notice came by SMS or email, it arrives only once the item is ready to collect.

CTT lets you change a delivery within 3 working days of the notice, for a fee: for a parcel, EUR 3.40 plus VAT to collect at another CTT shop or EUR 4.15 plus VAT for a new delivery to an address you choose. To keep a parcel in a CTT shop longer, up to 30 days, you ask at least 2 working days before the deadline, and CTT charges EUR 1.84 a day up to EUR 55.20, plus VAT.

If you leave an address, CTT’s mail redirection service sends mail addressed to your old address to a new one, in Portugal or abroad, for up to a year, and it excludes parcels. You ask at a CTT shop at least 2 working days before it starts. CTT’s prices for redirecting to a Portuguese address start at EUR 31.75 for 1 month, and for an address abroad at EUR 57.07.

Do parcels from the US or the UK go through customs?

Yes. CTT says every shipment that enters Portugal from outside the EU, or that has not been cleared inside the EU, goes through customs control, and what counts is the country the parcel is sent from, not the country of the online shop. The Tax Authority says every purchase of goods for the EU pays VAT, either at checkout or on import, and is subject to customs procedures whatever its value.

For Britons the rule is the same as for Americans. CTT says parcels from the United Kingdom are non-EU parcels with the same clearance as other non-EU origins, because Brexit restored borders and customs between the two blocs. It adds that Northern Ireland, though part of the UK, is treated as EU territory for tax and customs. The shop’s own country does not decide it.

The Tax Authority describes who does what. CTT receives the parcel and stores it. It checks whether the seller collected the VAT, and if not asks you for documents and for payment. It then sends a customs declaration to the Tax Authority, which runs a risk check, may inspect the goods at CTT’s premises and authorizes release. CTT delivers. The Tax Authority says customs offices do not store postal parcels at any stage.

What will a parcel from the US or UK cost me?

The cost has three parts: VAT, customs duty and CTT’s clearance fee. CTT says the clearance fee is charged only if VAT and duty were not paid at checkout. CTT’s pages say the following.

Here is how the EUR 3 works. CTT says the duty exemption for purchases up to EUR 150 ended on 1 July 2026, that the EUR 3 applies to each product type as defined by the Harmonized System code, whatever the quantity or price, and that VAT is calculated on the value of the goods plus the duty. Its examples: three identical T-shirts pay EUR 3, and one T-shirt and one pair of shoes pay EUR 6. The European Commission calls this a temporary flat fee per item that applies until 1 July 2028, after which normal customs duties apply, and says it is paid by the declarant, meaning the seller or importer (an IOSS holder, a user of the special arrangements, or their indirect representative), and only in very residual cases by the consumer, in Member States that offer a free web-based declaration system for citizens. CTT handles the parcel as an intermediary and, when the duty was not paid at checkout, charges you the EUR 3. So whether you are charged depends on how the seller declares the goods; CTT says that if only VAT was paid at checkout it cannot ask you for the duty, and the parcel is then returned, so ask the seller before you buy whether duty is included. CTT also says that if a parcel is returned to the origin, the duty paid under the simplified regime is not refunded.

CTT advises buying from shops that charge VAT and duty at checkout, because you then know most of the import cost in advance. CTT says the price of its own clearance service is unchanged by the new rules. Duty rates for goods over EUR 150 depend on the type of goods.

How do I clear a parcel step by step?

CTT says clearance is online only, in its customs portal, and that you need to be registered on the CTT site first. It cannot be done in person.

1. Watch for the notice. If you gave the seller a phone number or email, CTT says you are notified by SMS or email once the parcel leaves the origin country; otherwise a letter is sent to the address on the parcel after it reaches Portugal.
2. Open the portal and add the parcel. The parcel number is two letters, nine digits and two letters. CTT recommends a computer; a phone can cause an error.
3. Identify yourself. CTT asks for a Portuguese NIF or a passport, not both. With a passport you upload a photo of it and give its issue date. A NIF is the simpler route: see how to get a NIF.
4. Upload documents. For a purchase CTT lists a commercial invoice, a screenshot of the purchase history on the site (or the full message exchange with a seller) and proof of payment. Between private individuals, with no payment, CTT says you generally only need a passport scan if you gave it. Customs may reject the process if a required document is missing or the information is inconsistent between documents.
5. Pay. The portal accepts MB Way, a Multibanco reference or a Payshop reference. Once you choose Multibanco or Payshop you cannot change the method. See cards, MB Way and payments in Portugal.
6. Wait for release. After payment the Tax Authority tells CTT it authorizes release, and CTT then sends the parcel to your address. You can follow the status in the CTT portal, or on the Portal das Finanças under external users, postal parcels, by entering the recipient’s NIF and the parcel reference.

CTT warns that it does not send emails or SMS asking for payment unless you chose Multibanco or Payshop in the portal, and tells you to treat any other request as possible phishing.

What if customs holds my parcel or I miss the deadline?

CTT’s clearance page gives 20 days from receipt of the parcel by the customs services in Portugal to start clearance, and does not guarantee that the process will be completed within 20 days. Its help page gives 20 days after the parcel arrives in Portugal to clear it, and says the parcel is returned if clearance is not completed by the deadline. If you were notified by SMS or email, you get a reminder 2 days before the deadline, and the portal shows a deadline date and time in the parcel list. If clearance is not complete by then, CTT says the parcel is returned to the sender without any way back. If the process has expired and the parcel is still in Portugal, you can contact CTT to ask whether it can exceptionally reopen it, with no guarantee, since a return may already be under way.

If customs rejects the process, CTT says you are told by email what to submit, which may include a declaration of value. You find the template in the portal under Help, Templates.

If you were charged VAT twice, CTT says the origin operator may not have passed on the information; contact the seller to ask for a refund after clearance. If the parcel is paid for and customs released it but it has not reached you, the Tax Authority says to contact CTT. CTT adds that during the first months of the new rules, clearance may take longer than usual.

An older ANACOM consumer page, dated 8 September 2022, gives a deadline of 90 days and mentions going to customs in person. CTT’s current pages give 20 days and online only, so follow your notice and CTT’s portal.

If you are moving and shipping your own belongings, the portal has a relief for a change of residence, based on article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009. That is a different route with its own conditions, covered in our guide to shipping belongings.

Where do I complain if mail or a parcel is lost?

Start with CTT. It lists its contact form, its helpline and its shops. It sets time limits: complaints about international items must come within 6 months of acceptance, and about domestic items within 1 year. ANACOM, in a consumer notice of 14 March 2022, said you can also use the Livro de Reclamações, available online or in a CTT shop, and that the operator must answer within 15 working days. It adds that postal quality targets do not compensate an individual user for a late item. ANACOM suggests asking senders such as utilities for electronic invoices if letters go missing.

Official pages read

We read, on 19 October 2026: CTT’s pages on clearing parcels, on the end of the duty exemption and its fee table, and its help pages on fees, deadlines, Brexit, VAT relief, NIF and passport, special regimes, documents, customs control, addressing, pickup, redirection, Posta Restante and complaints; the Tax Authority’s pages on postal parcels and on postal consignments; the European Commission’s page on the temporary flat fee on low-value imports; and two ANACOM consumer notices.