Changes are coming into affect for low value goods imported on or after 1st of December 2019.
In brief these changes are:
- Consignments having a total value on or below NZ$1000 will no longer incur any Customs duty, tax or fees charges.
- Overseas suppliers who sell low value goods to consumers will need to collect GST on behalf of the IRD. For goods over NZ$1000, the NZ GST number for the supplier should be stated and GST pre-paid can be indicated to exclude these charges when the goods cross the border.
Further details can be found on the NZ Customs and IRD websites.
Inward Cargo Reports
- Goods with a value between NZ$400 and NZ$1000 can now be written off by submitting an inward cargo report provided that a full tariff code has been provided.
- There are no changes for the process where the goods value is under NZ$400.
Cargo supports entering a single tariff code against the consignment. The Goods section as highlighted below shows the key fields related to ICR write-offs. For goods with value between NZ$400-$1000 either a classification code (short code) or a raw tariff code may be entered.
Note: A Low Value/Simplified import declaration will need to be completed where the consignment has a mixture of commodities and multiple tariff codes.
Import Declarations
As stated above, goods with a total value on or below NZ$1000 do not incur a Customs duty, GST or transaction fee. An exception to this is alcohol or tobacco - duty/levies and GST must still be paid for these even if the value is under NZ$1000 or the GST was prepaid.
Cargo allows you to enter the NZ GST number for an overseas supplier into the contact details.
Also, the tax prepayment status can be indicated against the invoice. If a GST number has been entered for the supplier, then invoices will be set to tax prepaid (Yes) by default. 
