Gift exemptions for international shipping: limits by country

Sometimes, but less often than people hope. A gift exemption covers parcels sent person to person, under a value cap, marked honestly. It never covers a parcel you ordered from a store, whatever label anyone puts on it.

The limits by country

Gift thresholds as they stand (always confirm the current figure on the destination customs site before sending something expensive):

Note the pattern: the US and Canada are per-person per-day rules, so splitting one big gift into several parcels arriving together defeats the purpose. Countries that removed their low-value commercial exemptions (the US, the EU) kept the gift carve-out, but customs now scrutinizes gift declarations harder than ever.

The "just mark it as a gift" trap

Asking a seller to mark a commercial order as a gift is the oldest customs dodge there is, and it fails in three ways:

1. Customs knows the store. A parcel from a known marketplace shipper is a commercial shipment regardless of the label.
2. If the declared value is too low for the contents, the parcel gets held for a value check and you end up paying the tax plus delays and sometimes a penalty.
3. It is customs fraud, and the liability lands on the sender and often the recipient.

How to send a real gift that clears smoothly

To actually use the exemption, the parcel needs an honest declaration:

• Gift clearly marked as the reason for export
• A real description ("hand-knit wool scarf", not "item")
• The true value
• Both sender and recipient are private individuals, with names that match real people

Parcels declared this way and under the threshold typically clear without charges or any additional contact.

Frequently asked questions

My family sent me a gift and I got a tax bill. Do I have to pay it?

If the parcel is above your country's gift threshold, yes: the tax includes the value above the threshold (or the full value in some countries). If the declaration looks wrong, you can usually challenge it with proof, but you pay first and dispute after.

Does the threshold apply to used items or homemade things?

Yes. The value is the fair market value of the item, not what it cost anyone to make. A handmade quilt worth $200 exceeds the US gift limit the same way a $200 store item does.

Will customs open my gift parcel to check?

Sometimes they do, and they reseal it with a notice. A proper declaration reduces the chance markedly; a suspicious one guarantees it.

I got a gift from abroad and the courier charged a fee on top. Why?

The fee line is the courier's own processing charge, not a government tax. It applies even when the value is within an exemption, depending on the carrier. The details, and when you can push back, are in customs disbursement fees.