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 will no longer 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.