Gift checker · checked 4 November 2026

Will a gift sent to the US be charged customs duty?

The $800 duty-free rule for small parcels is gone, but real gifts are still duty-free up to $100 per person. Answer four questions to see if your gift qualifies before you post it.

Who is sending it, and who paid?I'm sending it from outside the US, and I paid for itA shop is posting it straight to the person (I ordered it as a gift)The person in the US paid for it, or it's for meA business is sending it (for example to a customer or staff)

What the gift is worth, per person receiving it (US $)

Does it contain alcohol, tobacco or vapes, or perfume with alcohol?NoYes

Sent fromAnother countryA US island possession (for example Guam or the US Virgin Islands)

The rule in plain words

US law lets a person abroad send a bona fide gift worth up to $100 to someone in the US without duty ($200 from certain US island possessions). This rule was not touched when the US ended the $800 de minimis exemption on 29 August 2025. CBP's rule of 24 June 2026, which made that suspension indefinite, says plainly that it "does not suspend the exemptions for bona fide gifts."

A gift counts when:

• it's sent by a person, not a business, to another person;
• the person receiving it didn't pay for it or order it;
• its fair retail value in the country it's sent from is $100 or less;
• it isn't alcohol, tobacco, or perfume containing alcohol. Those are never covered.

Several gifts in one box

If one parcel holds gifts for several people, each person's gifts are counted on their own. Wrap and label each gift with the person's name and the value, and list them separately on the customs form. Two $80 gifts for two people can both go duty-free; one $160 gift for one person can't.

Filling in the customs form

• Tick Gift, not "Sale of goods" or "Merchandise".
• Describe each item plainly ("wool scarf", "children's book"), not just "gift" or "clothes".
• Put the real value. Writing $0 or a value that's too low can get the parcel held, and it's a false declaration.
• Add the recipient's phone number. Couriers use it to contact them if anything is owed.

When duty is charged

If the gift is worth more than $100, or it was bought by the person receiving it, or a business sent it, it's treated like any other import: duty is worked out on its full value at the normal rate plus the extra US tariffs for the country it was made in. Couriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS usually collect it from the recipient, sometimes with their own handling fee, before they deliver. For posted parcels that aren't gifts, many post offices now ask the sender to pay the US duty up front.

Work out the duty on an item

Sources: 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A) and 19 CFR 10.152 (gift exemption, $100, exclusions); CBP interim final rule, Federal Register 24 June 2026, 2026-12670 ("does not suspend the exemptions for bona fide gifts"); CBP guidance on mailing gifts to the US. Read 4 November 2026. A guide, not customs advice: the officer who sees the parcel decides.