Changes to duty-free entry of heirlooms, inherited goods and gifts

Key changes are outlined below.

Heirlooms and Inherited Goods

• Operational changes to Concession Reference 70 for ‘Heirlooms, Māori artefacts, and Māori taonga that are not imported for commercial gain’.
• The creation of Concession Reference 71 for ‘Inherited Goods’.

The key change is that heirlooms and inherited goods have been separated. This means that:

• Goods inherited two or more times will be considered heirlooms and enterable under concession 70.
• Goods inherited only once, or in the process of being inherited for the first time, will be considered inherited goods and enterable under the newly created concession 71.

Inherited goods will only be eligible under concession 71 if they are being passed as a result of a death or diagnosis of terminal illness.

Gifts sent from overseas to New Zealand

• Removal of Concession Reference 75 for ‘Presents or gifts except tobacco products sent from persons abroad to persons resident in New Zealand.’

With the removal of Concession 75, Customs will not collect information on gifts and will treat gifts like any other good under the $1000 de minimis rules. This means that:

• If a good intended to be gifted (except for tobacco and alcohol) is worth $1000 or less, the gift will be eligible to enter New Zealand duty-free under the $1000 de minimis threshold.
• All goods to be gifted worth more than $1000, or any tobacco or alcohol, will be subject to duty and GST.

The Customs website will be updated to reflect the changes. More information will be available at Gifts, Inheritance and Taonga.