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New Zealand GST on imported goods

How New Zealand's 15% GST reaches imports: seller collection up to NZ$1,000, the NZ$60,000 registration test, receipts, border levies and a worked example.

Updated · 11 official sources

New Zealand charges 15% GST on imported goods at one of two points: overseas sellers registered with Inland Revenue collect it at checkout on goods valued at NZ$1,000 or less, and New Zealand Customs collects it at the border on goods over NZ$1,000, together with any duty. Registration is compulsory once a seller's taxable sales to New Zealand consumers reach NZ$60,000 in 12 months.

Rules as of 30 October 2026.

When does an overseas seller register for New Zealand GST?#

An overseas seller registers for New Zealand GST when its total supplies to New Zealand consumers were NZ$60,000 or more in the last 12 months, or will exceed NZ$60,000 in the next 12 months. Total supplies count low-value goods, remote services and digital products, plus everything charged with them, such as delivery, insurance and other fees.

Goods valued over NZ$1,000 don't count toward the threshold, and neither do sales to New Zealand businesses registered for GST. Online marketplaces and redeliverers may also have to register and charge GST, depending on the value of their total supplies.

Once registered, a seller files GST returns quarterly, unless it also sells goods or services physically in New Zealand.

How do you tell whether goods are low value?#

A low-value good is a physical good with a customs value of NZ$1,000 or less, excluding GST. The customs value leaves out shipping and insurance, so a NZ$980 item with NZ$40 delivery is still low value. Inland Revenue applies the test to each good individually, and some goods are outside the rules altogether.

Alcohol and tobacco are taxed at the border whatever their value, with GST, excise and customs duty. Fine metal is excluded too: gold of at least 99.5% fineness, silver of at least 99.9% and platinum of at least 99.0%. Going the other way, a non-resident seller can choose to charge GST on goods over NZ$1,000 as well, by telling Inland Revenue, when 75% or more of the total value of its goods is in items individually valued at NZ$1,000 or less.

GST on a low-value sale is charged on the full price the buyer pays, delivery included. On a GST-inclusive price, the GST is 3/23 of the total.

What does a worked example look like?#

A worked example shows the two routes side by side. Both orders below go by air courier to a consumer in Wellington from a seller registered for New Zealand GST. For the second, suppose the item's tariff line carries 5% duty, since rates depend on the item and its origin.

Order one is a NZ$160 jacket with NZ$20 delivery. The jacket is low value, so the seller charges GST at checkout and Customs collects nothing.

Line Calculation Amount
Price including delivery NZ$160 + NZ$20 NZ$180.00
GST at checkout 15% of NZ$180 NZ$27.00
Buyer pays NZ$207.00

Order two is a NZ$1,200 camera lens with NZ$60 of freight and insurance. It's over NZ$1,000, so the seller doesn't charge GST and Customs taxes it on arrival.

Line Calculation Amount
Duty 5% of NZ$1,200 NZ$60.00
GST 15% of (NZ$1,200 + NZ$60 + NZ$60) NZ$198.00
High-Value Goods Levy, air NZ$51.81 plus 15% GST NZ$59.58
Charges on arrival NZ$317.58

The courier's clearance fee comes on top of order two, and order one's forwarder pays the NZ$2.21 low-value levy plus GST. The landed cost calculator runs both routes for a real product.

What do receipts and shipping documents need?#

A registered seller that charges a consumer GST must give a receipt showing its name and GST number, the date, a description of the goods, the price and GST amount, in any currency, and which goods had GST charged. The same details belong on the customs documents, because Customs accepts them as proof of payment.

When the details don't reach Customs, goods can be taxed twice, most often in a basket worth over NZ$1,000 that Customs treats as one consignment even though the seller charged GST item by item. The buyer then shows the seller proof of the border GST and gets the checkout GST refunded, and the seller no longer owes GST on that sale to Inland Revenue.

Which border levies apply to imports?#

New Zealand's goods levies recover the cost of Customs and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) work at the border. Since 1 April 2026 they're charged per consignment for low-value goods sent as freight and per import entry for goods over NZ$1,000, and they're levies, not taxes. Brokers, forwarders and carriers pay them monthly and may pass them on.

Levy from 1 April 2026, excluding GST Customs MPI Total
Low-value import by air NZ$1.46 NZ$0.75 NZ$2.21
Low-value import by sea NZ$1.34 NZ$0.75 NZ$2.09
High-value import by air NZ$7.24 NZ$44.57 NZ$51.81
High-value import by sea NZ$73.87 NZ$44.57 NZ$118.44
Posted mail, per kilogram NZ$0.40 NZ$0.88 NZ$1.28

All levies carry 15% GST. The low-value levy is charged per write-off request on the inward cargo report, which works at house bill level, or per import entry for low-value goods. Two parcels on separate house air waybills attract two levies; the same parcels on one house bill attract one.

How GST, VAT and sales tax compare across countries is in the VAT, GST and sales tax guide, and the rest of the import rules are in the New Zealand guide.

Common questions#

What is the GST registration threshold for overseas sellers in New Zealand?#

NZ$60,000 of taxable supplies to New Zealand consumers in 12 months, looking back or ahead. Delivery and other charges count toward it, but goods over NZ$1,000 and sales to GST-registered businesses don't.

What is the Low-Value Goods Levy?#

A border levy that New Zealand Customs has charged since 1 April 2026 on low-value goods crossing the border as freight: NZ$2.21 by air or NZ$2.09 by sea per consignment, plus GST.

Sources#