From 1 October 2018 Customs will have a new Act. The changes mainly affect our business customers. Find out what this may mean for your business.
Allowances and charges
You may have to pay Customs duties and other charges on items you import privately or commercially.
You can find some of the more common duties and charges below.
For full details, see:
The Working Tariff Document of New Zealand
The Consolidated List of Approvals (PDF 5 MB).
Customs duty
Customs duties on items you’re importing will depend on where they’re coming from.
If you’re a private importer, our “What’s My Duty” estimator will tell you the most common charges you may have to pay. Different rules apply if you’re importing commercially.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ FTA Finder tool will tell you which items are exempt from Customs duty.
Customs duty on alcohol and tobacco – accompanied items
| Alcohol beverages | Duty/GST amount (NZ$) | |
| Beer (1.98 litre pack/6 cans/bottles) | Alcohol strength 0 – 1.15% | 1.50 |
| Alcohol strength 1.16 – 2.5% | 2.47 | |
| Alcohol strength 2.51 – 4.35% | 4.09 | |
| Alcohol strength 4.36 – 5% | 4.74 | |
| Alcohol strength 5.01% or greater | 5.07 | |
| French champagne | 750ml | 8.45 |
| Table wine | 750ml – NZ/Australian origin | 4.70 |
| 750ml – Other | 5.56 | |
|
Sherry and port |
750ml – NZ/Australian origin | 9.84 |
| 750ml – Other | 10.70 | |
| Vermouth | 750ml | 9.84 |
| Whiskey and bourbon | 750ml | 22.37 |
| 1000ml | 29.38 | |
| 1125ml | 32.81 | |
| 1750ml | 49.95 | |
| Premium whisky (where price is NZ$75 or more) | 750ml | 26.42 |
| 1000ml | 35.08 | |
| Brandy | 750ml | 20.12 |
| 1000ml | 26.42 | |
| 1125ml | 30.11 | |
| Cognac | 750ml | 31.68 |
| 1000ml | 38.83 | |
| Rum | 750ml | 21.17 |
| 1000ml | 27.88 | |
| 1125ml | 32.06 | |
| Vodka | 750ml | 21.92 |
| 1000ml | 29.08 | |
| 1125ml | 32.81 | |
| Gin and geneva | 750ml | 20.87 |
| 1000ml | 27.28 | |
| 1125ml | 30.56 | |
| Liqueures | 750ml | 19.99 |
| 1000ml | 26.25 | |
| Cream Liqueurs | 750ml | 14.33 |
| 1000ml | 19.18 | |
| 1750ml | 34.34 |
| Tobacco Products | Duty/GST amount (NZ$) | |
| Tobacco | per 50 grams – Australian Origin | 68.62 |
| per 50 grams – Other | 68.96 | |
| Cigarettes | per 200 – NZ/Australian Origin | 197.05 |
| per 150 – NZ/Australian Origin | 147.79 | |
| per 50 – NZ/Australian Origin | 49.26 | |
| per 200 – Other | 199.71 | |
| per 150 – Other | 149.78 | |
| per 50 – Other | 49.93 | |
| Cigars and cigarillos | per 50 grams | 63.47 |
Customs duty on motor vehicles
The following rates apply if you don’t qualify for a concession on your motor vehicle.
| Type of Vehicle | Duty Rate |
| Motorcycle |
0% |
| Car | 0% |
| Motorhome/ camper van | 10% |
| Motor vehicle for the transport of 10 or more people | 5% |
Customs ruling
If you’re an importer, or you manufacture in NZ, you can apply to us for rulings on:
- its Tariff classification
- its excise classification
- its country of origin, and the correct interpretation of rules of origin that apply
- any concessions that apply.
You must make a separate application for each ruling you request.
We charge a fee of NZ$40.88 (including GST) per good per ruling applies.
Depreciation rates for household effects
You must have owned and used the household effects you’re importing:
- for 90 days or more
- overseas
- for personal uses (ie not commercially).
We calculate depreciation on the time from when you took possession of your household effects (after buying them) until they arrived in NZ waters.
| Period of ownership and use overseas | Depreciation deduction |
| 3-6 months | 20% |
| 6-12 months | 33% |
| 12-21 months | 50% |
Depreciation rates for vessels
The rates of depreciation follow the IRD straight-line depreciation formula for each year the importer has owned the boat. The rates are:
| Yachts (international ocean going) | 10.0% |
| Yachts (other than international ocean going) | 8.0% |
| Jet boats | 13.5% |
| Launches, dinghy's and other pleasure craft | 8.5% |
Should the importer have owned the boat overseas for a period less than one year then the depreciation should be apportioned. Should the importer have owned an international ocean going yacht for three months the depreciation would be 3/12 of 10% or 0.83% for one month which equals 2.5% depreciation for three months. The depreciation period is calculated from the date the vessel arrived in New Zealand.
No depreciation is available for boats owned overseas by the importer for three months or less. The maximum depreciation allowable for any of the above craft is 80% as all vessels have a residual value.
Depreciation rates for vehicles
You must have owned and used the vehicle(s) you’re importing:
- for 90 days or more overseas:
- before handing them over for shipping to NZ or,
- before you left for NZ (whichever is earlier)
- for personal uses (ie not commercially).
We calculate depreciation on the time from when you took delivery of your vehicle (after buying it), until:
- you departed for NZ, or
- you gave it to the company shipping it to NZ – whichever happens first.
| Period of Ownership and use overseas | Depreciation reduction |
| Less than 90 days | 0% |
| 3 months or more, but less than 4 months | 13% |
| 4 months or more, but less than 6 months | 20% |
| 6 months or more, but less than 9 months | 27.5% |
| 9 months or more, but less than 1 year | 35% |
| 1 year or more, but less than 2 years | 50% |
| 2 years or more, but less than 3 years | 60% |
| 3 years or more, but less than 4 years | 70% |
| 4 years or more | 75% |
The maximum depreciation you can claim is normally 75%. If you can prove your vehicle was exposed to high heat and humidity which damaged it more quickly, we may let you have up to an additional 20% “tropical” depreciation. You can only claim tropical depreciation if you kept your vehicles between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Any decision to allow tropical depreciation is at our discretion.