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Excise entry offenses


This page contains information about:

  • what offenses apply to excise entries (also referred to as declarations)
  • what to do if you make a mistake in your excise entries.

Your responsibilities for accurate and complete excise entries

As an excise declarant, you must:

  • submit accurate and complete excise entries
  • notify Customs if there are any errors or omissions in your entries.

Offences

Section 112 and Section 364 of New Zealand’s Customs and Excise Act 2018 explains when someone commits an offence with an excise entry. In short, it is an offense to:

  • knowingly or recklessly provide a false or misleading excise entry
  • provide incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information to Customs
  • leave out information needed to make an excise entry accurate
  • fail to lodge an excise entry you are required to make.

Penalty

The penalty depends on the type of offence. Penalties range up to:

  • five years imprisonment
  • a fine of up to $150,000
  • both imprisonment and a fine.

More details are available: 

What to do if you made an error - voluntary disclosures

If you have provided incorrect or incomplete information, you should let Customs know as soon as possible. This is known as voluntary disclosure and enables Customs to work with you to resolve issues.