The New Zealand Customs Service has launched What’s My Duty?, an import duty estimator to help people buying goods online know how much duty and GST they may be liable for, plus import transaction and biosecurity fees.
“The rise in online shopping has been phenomenal,” says Carolyn Tremain, Comptroller of Customs, “However a lot of people buying goods online don’t realise that they may have to pay duty and GST when the goods arrive into New Zealand — what they’re actually doing is importing.”
What’s My Duty allows shoppers to choose from a list of the most common products bought online and calculates the import duty and GST required to be paid.
If the amount to pay is less than $60, then the amount is waived under the de minimis provision of the Customs and Excise Act 1996.
For most items, this means that there’s nothing to pay if the goods cost less than $400.
Customs collected over $11.3 billion in Crown revenue in the 2011/12 financial year.
NBR staff
Fri, 02 Nov 2012
Fri, 02 Nov 2012
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'What's my duty?' Customs launches tax, fee calculator for online shoppers
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