De minimis thresholds by country
De minimis is the order value below which a country lets imports in without duty or import tax. Slide the order value and watch the map change: green clears customs free, pink owes tax, cream owes duty. Click countries to compare them, or paste orders to check each one.
De minimis is the order value below which a country lets imports in without duty or import tax. Slide your order value and the map shows where it still clears customs free.
$120
Comparing 5 markets
- CanadaDuty due
A $120 order is about CAD 166.
- Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it.
- CAD 150 (about $109)
- Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead.
- CAD 40 (about $29)
By courier from the US or Mexico, duty-free up to CAD 150 and tax-free up to CAD 40 under CUSMA. Post stays at CAD 20. Source
- European UnionDuty due
A $120 order is about EUR 104.
- Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it.
- None
- Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead.
- None
The €150 duty relief has ended: parcels up to €150 pay a flat €3 duty per item, by tariff line, until mid-2028. VAT is due from €0.01; sellers using IOSS charge it at checkout. Source
- United KingdomDuty-free, tax due
A $120 order is about GBP 90.
- Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it.
- GBP 135 (about $180)
- Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead.
- None
On orders up to £135 the seller or marketplace charges UK VAT at checkout instead of at the border. The £135 duty relief is set to end by 2028. Source
- AustraliaDuty-free, tax due
A $120 order is about AUD 184.
- Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it.
- AUD 1,000 (about $654)
- Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead.
- None
Goods up to A$1,000 are duty-free, but the seller or marketplace charges 10% GST at checkout. Alcohol and tobacco excluded. Source
- JapanDuty due
A $120 order is about JPY 18,000.
- Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it.
- JPY 10,000 (about $67)
- Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead.
- JPY 10,000 (about $67)
Personal purchases are valued at 60% of the overseas retail price. Leather bags, shoes, liquor and tobacco are excluded. Sellers will charge consumption tax on these orders from April 2028. Source
Dollar values use approximate exchange rates; near a threshold, check the value in the local currency. Rules change often: follow each source before you rely on it. This is an estimate, not advice.
Check your international orders
Paste orders as order, country (name or two-letter code), value in US dollars, or drop an order export. See which ones cross each country's threshold. It runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
De minimis thresholds by country
| Country | Duty-free up toDuty is the customs tariff on the goods. Orders worth up to this much enter without it. | Tax-free up toImport tax is the country's VAT, GST or sales tax on imports. Orders worth up to this much enter without it at the border; some countries have the seller charge it at checkout instead. | A $120 order | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | None | Not charged | Duty due | The $800 de minimis exemption is suspended for commercial goods from every country, by post too, and a 2025 law repeals it from July 2027. Gifts up to $100 still enter free. There's no federal import VAT. Source |
| Canada | CAD 150 | CAD 40 | Duty due | By courier from the US or Mexico, duty-free up to CAD 150 and tax-free up to CAD 40 under CUSMA. Post stays at CAD 20. Source |
| European Union | None | None | Duty due | The €150 duty relief has ended: parcels up to €150 pay a flat €3 duty per item, by tariff line, until mid-2028. VAT is due from €0.01; sellers using IOSS charge it at checkout. Source |
| United Kingdom | GBP 135 | None | Duty-free, tax due | On orders up to £135 the seller or marketplace charges UK VAT at checkout instead of at the border. The £135 duty relief is set to end by 2028. Source |
| Switzerland | CHF 62 | CHF 62 | Duty due | Import charges of CHF 5 or less aren't collected: about CHF 62 of goods at the 8.1% VAT rate, or CHF 193 at 2.6%. Shipping counts toward the value. Source |
| Norway | NOK 3,000 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Sellers registered for VOEC charge VAT at checkout on items under NOK 3,000, and those items are duty-free. Otherwise VAT is due at the border from NOK 1. Source |
| Australia | AUD 1,000 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Goods up to A$1,000 are duty-free, but the seller or marketplace charges 10% GST at checkout. Alcohol and tobacco excluded. Source |
| New Zealand | NZD 1,000 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Goods up to NZ$1,000 are duty-free; registered offshore sellers charge 15% GST at checkout. A per-parcel levy applies on top. Source |
| Japan | JPY 10,000 | JPY 10,000 | Duty due | Personal purchases are valued at 60% of the overseas retail price. Leather bags, shoes, liquor and tobacco are excluded. Sellers will charge consumption tax on these orders from April 2028. Source |
| South Korea | USD 200 | USD 200 | No duty or tax | Personal-use goods up to US$150 clear free, or US$200 when shipped from the US. Medicine, health foods, cosmetics and food stay at US$150 from anywhere. Source |
| China | None | None | Duty due | Cross-border online orders have no de minimis, with limits of RMB 5,000 an order and RMB 26,000 a year. By post, tax of RMB 50 or less is waived. Source |
| Hong Kong | Not charged | Not charged | No duty or tax | A free port with no import duty or VAT. Only liquor over 30% alcohol, tobacco and fuels pay excise. Source |
| Singapore | Not charged | None | Duty-free, tax due | No customs duty except on liquor, tobacco, cars and fuel. GST-registered overseas sellers charge 9% GST at checkout on goods up to S$400 sent by air or post. Source |
| Brazil | USD 50 | None | Duty due | Through platforms in the Remessa Conforme program, federal import tax is 0% up to US$50 and higher above it. State ICMS tax applies to every parcel. Source |
| Chile | USD 500 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Duty-free up to US$500, then 6% duty. 19% VAT applies to every order, collected at checkout by registered platforms. Source |
| Colombia | USD 200 | USD 200 | No duty or tax | Post and courier orders up to US$200 FOB are duty-free. VAT is also waived up to US$200 where a trade agreement allows it, in practice goods from the US. Source |
| United Arab Emirates | AED 1,000 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Dubai Customs exempts consignments up to AED 1,000 from duty; 5% VAT still applies. Tobacco, vapes and alcohol excluded. Source |
| Saudi Arabia | SAR 1,000 | None | Duty-free, tax due | Online orders under SAR 1,000, including shipping and insurance, are duty-free. 15% VAT applies from the first riyal. Source |
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How to read your number
A de minimis threshold is the order value below which a country doesn't collect import duty or tax at the border. Canada's is CAD 20, rising to CAD 150 for duty and CAD 40 for tax on courier parcels from the US or Mexico, so a CAD 100 order from a US store clears duty-free but owes sales tax. The US has suspended its $800 exemption, so every commercial parcel into the US now owes duty.
Why it matters
De minimis decides who pays what, and when, on a cross-border order. Under the threshold a parcel arrives with nothing to pay; over it, the customer often meets a courier bill for duty, tax and a brokerage fee at the door, and many refuse the parcel. Knowing each market's threshold tells you where to show duties-included prices, and where to charge tax at checkout instead.
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Formula
Duty-free if order value ≤ duty threshold; tax-free if order value ≤ tax threshold
Countries measure the value differently: the goods alone (FOB, as in Colombia), or goods plus shipping and insurance (CIF, as in Saudi Arabia and Switzerland). Many thresholds are per shipment, a few per item. Duty and tax often have different thresholds, and a growing number of countries collect tax at checkout instead of exempting it.
Other ways to calculate de minimis thresholds by country
- Value threshold
- Free if consignment value ≤ threshold
- Most countries, such as Canada (CAD 20) and Australia (A$1,000 for duty).
- Tax-amount threshold
- Free if duty + tax owed ≤ threshold
- Switzerland waives charges of CHF 5 or less; China's postal parcels waive tax of RMB 50 or less.
- Collected at checkout
- Tax = order value × local rate, charged by the seller
- The EU (IOSS), UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Singapore: low-value orders skip border tax because a registered seller or marketplace charges it at checkout.
- Flat duty per item
- Duty = items (by tariff line) × flat amount
- The EU's €3 per item on parcels up to €150, in place of its old €150 duty relief.
What is de minimis?
De minimis, from the Latin for "about minimal things", is a customs rule that lets low-value shipments enter a country without duty, tax or a full customs declaration. It exists because collecting a few dollars of duty on a small parcel costs more than it brings in.
Thresholds range from none at all (the European Union, China) to A$1,000 in Australia, and they've been falling: more countries now charge tax on every order and make the seller collect it. Online shopping made small parcels the bulk of cross-border trade, which is why the rules keep changing.
Has the US ended de minimis?
Yes, in practice. Section 321 of the Tariff Act let shipments worth $800 or less into the US free of duty. That exemption is suspended for commercial goods from every country, including mail, and US Customs has made the suspension a regulation. A 2025 law repeals the exemption itself from July 2027.
So every commercial parcel into the US now goes through an informal entry (up to $2,500) or a formal entry, and owes the duty on its tariff line plus the merchandise processing fee. Work out what that adds with the tariff calculator. Bona fide gifts up to $100 still enter free.
How to calculate de minimis thresholds by country: a worked example
A US skincare brand ships a CAD 100 order by courier to a customer in Toronto.
- Shipped from the US by courier, so the CUSMA limits apply: CAD 150 for duty, CAD 40 for tax
- CAD 100 ≤ CAD 150, so no duty
- CAD 100 > CAD 40, so Ontario's 13% HST is due: CAD 13
- Sent by post instead, the CAD 20 limit applies to both, and duty is due too
The order clears duty-free but owes CAD 13 of tax, plus whatever the courier charges to collect it. Charging that at checkout avoids a surprise bill at the door.
What to do with these thresholds
Under the threshold, keep checkout simple. Orders that clear free need nothing extra. Make sure your shipping rates and delivery promise reflect a parcel that won't be held for payment.
Over it, decide who pays. Delivered duty paid (DDP) means you collect duties and tax at checkout and the parcel arrives with nothing to pay; delivered at place (DAP) leaves the customer to pay on delivery. DDP usually wins on conversion and returns in markets where most orders cross the threshold.
Register where it's required. The EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Singapore expect overseas sellers above their sales limits to register and charge local tax at checkout. Check each authority's page, linked in the table, before you sell there.
| Market | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Duty-free up to $800 (Section 321) | Suspended for commercial goods from every country; repealed from July 2027 |
| European Union | Duty-free up to €150; VAT from €0.01 | Flat €3 duty per item on parcels up to €150 |
| United Kingdom | Duty-free up to £135; VAT at checkout | Duty relief due to end by 2028 |
| Norway | VAT-free up to NOK 350 | VAT charged at checkout by VOEC sellers, or at the border |
| Japan | Duty and tax-free up to ¥10,000 | Sellers to charge consumption tax on these orders from April 2028 |
Questions about de minimis thresholds by country
- What does de minimis mean?
- De minimis means "too small to matter": in shipping, it's the value below which a country lets an imported order in without duty, import tax or both. Canada's is CAD 20 for most parcels, Australia's A$1,000 for duty. Above it, the buyer or the seller pays the charges.
- What is the de minimis threshold in the US?
- There's effectively none for commercial goods. The $800 Section 321 exemption is suspended for shipments from every country, by any mode including post, and a 2025 law repeals it from July 2027. Commercial parcels owe duty on their tariff line; bona fide gifts up to $100 still enter free.
- What is the de minimis value for Canada?
- CAD 20 for duty and tax on most imports. Courier shipments from the US or Mexico get higher limits under CUSMA: duty-free up to CAD 150 and tax-free up to CAD 40. Goods sent by post from the US stay at CAD 20.
- Does the EU have a de minimis threshold?
- No. VAT has been due on every import since 2021, collected at checkout by sellers registered for IOSS on orders up to €150. The €150 duty relief has also ended: low-value parcels now pay a flat €3 duty per item, counted by tariff line.
- Is de minimis per order or per item?
- Usually per shipment or consignment: the total value of one parcel to one person. Norway's VOEC limit and the EU's flat duty work per item. Splitting one order into several parcels to stay under a threshold is not allowed in most countries.
- Does shipping count toward the de minimis value?
- It depends on the country. Some measure the goods alone (FOB), others the goods plus shipping and insurance (CIF), such as Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. Check the value basis on the authority's page, linked in the table above.
Sources
- Federal Register: indefinite suspension of the US de minimis exemption (all modes other than post)
- Federal Register: suspension of the US de minimis exemption for postal shipments
- Canada Border Services Agency: CUSMA low-value shipments
- European Commission: €3 customs duty per item on low-value online parcels
- GOV.UK: VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK
- Norwegian Customs: the VOEC scheme
- Australian Taxation Office: GST on low-value imported goods
- Japan Customs: tax exemption for small consignments
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