Goods Levies Vs Customs Duty
A goods levy is not Customs duty. New Zealand Customs Service uses duty as a tariff rate on the goods. The goods levy is a charge that recovers the cost of managing goods at the border, collected with the Ministry for Primary Industries.
From 1 April 2026 those levies are consignment charges. High value means over NZ$1,000. Low value means NZ$1,000 or less. The published import amounts exclude GST. They do not change because your shirt is 10% duty and your book is 0%.
A courier line labelled duty can be the goods levy. Duty comes from the Working Tariff Document and can be 0%. The levy still applies to freight consignments from 1 April 2026. GST of 15% is a third charge. It is calculated on the price, plus international freight and insurance, plus any import duty. The levy is not inside that GST sum.
Customs duty
A rate on the value in New Zealand dollars. It depends on what the goods are, where they were made, and where they were sent from. The rate sits in the Working Tariff Document. Many goods are 0%. Alcohol and tobacco are outside the NZ$1,000 collection line.
Goods levy
A fixed cost recovery amount from 1 April 2026. It follows air or sea, and whether the consignment is over NZ$1,000. Customs and MPI each have a column. The table is excluding GST. How you lodge and clear the goods did not change.
The clearance map is on import duty and customs. Put a known duty rate through the import duty calculator. The tariff item itself is on how to find your NZ tariff or HS code. Border GST, separate from the levy, is on GST on imports NZ.
What are the import levy amounts?
New Zealand Customs Service publishes these goods management levies from 1 April 2026. Every figure below is excluding GST. High value import is usually paid by the importer. Low value import is usually paid by freight forwarders.
| Import consignment | Customs, excl GST | MPI, excl GST | Combined, excl GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| High value, air, over NZ$1,000 | $7.24 | $44.57 | $51.81 |
| High value, sea, over NZ$1,000 | $73.87 | $44.57 | $118.44 |
| Low value, air, NZ$1,000 or less | $1.46 | $0.75 | $2.21 |
| Low value, sea, NZ$1,000 or less | $1.34 | $0.75 | $2.09 |
Universal Postal Union mail is not that per parcel amount. The import mail levy is per kilogram, $0.40 Customs and $0.88 MPI, combined $1.28 excluding GST, and it is usually paid by the craft operator. The low value freight levy is charged per write off request on an inward cargo report at house bill level. Questions about an invoice go to the invoice issuer. The full table, including exports, is on the Customs goods levies and hourly rate page.
Two Customs pages describe the NZ$1,000 line differently. The duty and allowances page says Customs does not collect duty, levies, or GST unless the shipment is over NZ$1,000, except alcohol and tobacco. The goods levies page from 1 April 2026 says low value freight is still charged, usually to the freight forwarder. Use the allowances page for duty and GST. Use the 1 April 2026 table for the levy.
When does Customs collect duty and GST?
Customs does not collect duty or GST unless the shipment is over NZ$1,000. That exemption does not apply to alcohol or tobacco. Orders that arrive on the same day from the same supplier can be treated as one shipment and can cross NZ$1,000. GST of 15% applies to imported items and gifts. Overseas suppliers may charge GST on items valued at NZ$1,000 or less. At the border, GST is the price, plus international freight, postage and insurance, plus any import duty.
Duty is not a single New Zealand percentage. It follows the goods, the country of manufacture, and the country they were sent from. Preferential rates sit in trade agreements. A ruling can cover tariff classification if you need one before you ship. The hourly rate is a different Customs charge again: $133.00 including GST per hour, with a minimum charge of $399.00 including GST, when officers work outside usual arrangements.
Wellington parcel, air, under NZ$1,000
Labelled example. A Wellington buyer receives one air freight parcel valued under NZ$1,000, not alcohol or tobacco. Action: do not treat a $2.21 charge as 10% duty. That $2.21 is the combined low value air levy excluding GST, and Customs says it is usually paid by the freight forwarder. Duty and border GST still follow the NZ$1,000 line. If the supplier already added GST at checkout, that is the supplier charge the allowances page allows on goods of NZ$1,000 or less. It is not the goods levy.
What people mix up
Reddit threads on a 2026 fee change describe a low value charge around a couple of dollars plus GST, and a separate argument about whether a sale price or a higher ticket price sets the NZ$1,000 test. The live table is $2.21 excluding GST for low value air and $2.09 excluding GST for low value sea. This guide does not add GST on top of those published figures. A DHL invoice for a few dollars after a fast delivery is the sort of bill people now argue about. Ask the invoice issuer before you pay, and do not assume every small demand is Customs duty.
A payments company guide updated 31 January 2026 folds an import entry fee and a biosecurity levy into one fixed sum and works an example shipment. That sum is not the 1 April 2026 table. High value air is $51.81 excluding GST combined. High value sea is $118.44 excluding GST combined. Clothing duty bands and a free on board formula in that guide are not the Customs allowances page. Quora had no New Zealand goods levy thread this run. A DHL levy guide, an NZ Post YouShop page, and an electronics forum post did not return readable text. The duty and allowances page remains the duty and GST source. The goods levies page remains the levy source.