Practical gifting

Do You Pay Customs on a Gift Sent to Australia? What the Recipient Owes

Usually no duty on a gift worth AUD 1,000 or less. Who pays, what the customs form needs, and a sourced table of what can't be posted to Australia.

By Published

A Same Skies gift box and card on an office desk

The short answer

Do You Pay Customs on a Gift Sent to Australia? What the Recipient Owes

Usually not. Australian Border Force says most goods worth AUD 1,000 or less have no duties, taxes or charges to pay, so an ordinary gift parcel from the UK doesn't land the person receiving it with a customs bill. Alcohol and tobacco are taxed at any value, and the biosecurity check applies to everything. We checked every rule below against official pages on 25 October 2026, and each row of the can't-send table links to its source.

Who pays customs on a gift sent to Australia?

For most gifts, nobody, because there's nothing to pay. The Border Force's page on import declarations says most goods worth AUD 1,000 or less have no duties, taxes or charges to pay. Tobacco, tobacco products and alcoholic drinks are the exceptions, taxed whatever they're worth. Above AUD 1,000, the person bringing the goods in pays all the relevant duties, taxes and charges, including an import processing charge, before release.

Two details catch people out. First, we couldn't find a separate allowance for gifts on the Border Force or ATO pages. A gift is treated like any other import, so the AUD 1,000 line does the work. Second, the AUD 1,000 is the value of the whole consignment, not each parcel. Border Force's Customs Notice 2021/01 says packages known to be part of the same order count as one consignment even when they arrive separately, and that structuring orders to stay under the line isn't acceptable. For cargo reports it also defines the consignee as the ultimate recipient, whether or not they ordered or paid.

The figure is in Australian dollars, so check the exchange rate if your gift is near it. Over the line, the importer has to lodge the import declaration (Border Force names form B374 for international mail) and the page says it can't complete it for them. So a gift worth more than AUD 1,000 is where the person receiving it can end up with paperwork and a bill.

What about Australian GST on a gift?

GST is Australia's version of VAT, at 10%. The Tax Office says GST on imports is collected at the border, and that goods other than tobacco, alcohol and bulk orders at or below AUD 1,000 can be non-taxable importations. That matches the Border Force line above.

The tax moves to the till. Under the ATO's rules for low value imported goods, a business outside Australia that sells goods into the country with a customs value of AUD 1,000 or less has to charge Australian GST to its customer and pay it over. So if you order from a UK retailer that ships straight to Australia, the retailer may add Australian GST at checkout, and nothing more should be due at the border. If you buy in a shop here and post it yourself, no seller is collecting it and the border rule above applies.

We're not tax advisers. The ATO page was last updated on 11 September 2025, so read it before a big order.

What to write on the customs form (UK side)

Royal Mail's Australia page says items worth up to £270 need a CN22 customs form, and items worth more than £270 need a CN23 plus a clear SP 126 plastic wallet. If you buy postage online with Click & Drop, the customs label is generated for you and the data goes to Australia ahead of the parcel. Electronic customs data is mandatory for items sent abroad, except personal correspondence. Keep the two numbers apart: £270 decides which Royal Mail form you fill in, while AUD 1,000 is the Australian duty line.

The description is the part people get wrong. Royal Mail asks for a detailed, itemised description in English. The Australian Department of Agriculture wants to know what each item is and what it's made from, and says descriptions such as "gift", "present" or "goods" aren't acceptable. So even though it is a gift, don't write that. Itemise everything, packing included. For example:

  • Milk chocolate bars, 3 x 200 g, sealed, commercially packaged
  • Shortbread, 1 tin, sealed (flour, butter, sugar)
  • Black tea bags, 1 box of 80, unopened
  • Packing: new cardboard box, newspaper

Add the recipient's email or Australian phone number, which Royal Mail says helps customs reach them, and the postage cost and weight if you can. Declare what the goods are worth: Border Force's notice calls false or misleading information a strict liability offence for importers, so a low figure to stay under the line is a bad idea. Our guide to sending a parcel to Australia from the UK covers packing and services, and the Royal Mail tracker shows the cut-off dates if you're posting for Christmas.

What the person receiving it may be asked to do

Most of the time, nothing: once the parcel clears the border, Australia Post delivers it like any other. What can change that:

  • Pay the duty and taxes before release if the goods include alcohol or tobacco or are worth more than AUD 1,000, and lodge the import declaration themselves when the consignment is over that line.
  • Wait while the parcel is checked. The Department of Agriculture assesses every mail article with X-ray, detector dogs and manual inspection, and any parcel can be picked for a random check.
  • Pay for treatment. If an item can be made safe instead of destroyed, the Department says treatment for international mail costs AUD 94 per item, at the importer's expense.

If nobody's home when Australia Post arrives and there's no safe place to leave the parcel, Australia Post's missed delivery page says it goes to a nearby Post Office, where the recipient has 10 business days to collect it before it's returned to the sender. Send them the tracking number and tell them what's inside.

What you can't send to Australia, or only with conditions

This is the table most people searching "what items cannot be shipped to Australia" are after. It follows the official pages as they stood on 25 October 2026, with the page named on every row, so screenshot it or print it. "Conditions" means allowed if the condition is met, and "check first" means no one-line answer exists on an official page. Our guide to sending food to Australia from the UK has the food detail.

Food, plants and wooden items

Item Short answer What the official page says Official source
Meat, ham, bacon, salami, sausages (uncanned) No Not allowed without an import permit. Canned meat and some jerky have narrow conditions. Dept of Agriculture: bringing or mailing goods
Cheese, butter and other dairy Conditions Commercially packaged, origin on the label, up to 10 kg or 10 litres, declared and inspected. Royal Mail won't carry chilled food. Dept of Agriculture; Royal Mail Australia page
Fresh fruit and vegetables, anything chilled or frozen No On the Department's Christmas do-not-send list, and Royal Mail can't post perishable, chilled or frozen food. Dept of Agriculture: Christmas; Royal Mail Australia page
Live plants, holly, mistletoe, wreaths, conifer, pine cones, potpourri No Most live plants need an import permit. Holly, mistletoe, wreaths, conifer, pine cones and potpourri are on the Department's Christmas do-not-send list. Dept of Agriculture; Dept of Agriculture: Christmas
Seeds Conditions Permitted species only, with a government phytosanitary certificate, commercially packaged and labelled with the botanical name. Hosts of khapra beetle are banned. Dept of Agriculture
Wooden items Conditions Free from bark, insects and insect damage, declared and inspected. Items that fail are treated, sent back or destroyed. Dept of Agriculture
Honey Conditions Allowed into most states and territories, inspected on arrival. Western Australia has its own entry rules for bee products. Dept of Agriculture
Raw nuts, uncooked rice, wheat, some spices Mostly no Raw peanuts and uncooked rice are not permitted. Other raw nuts need a phytosanitary certificate. Wheat, cumin, coriander and fennel seeds and dried chillies are barred unless an exclusion applies. Dept of Agriculture
Pet food, treats and chews Permit needed Needs an import permit and/or a government vet certificate or manufacturer's declaration. There is no small-quantity exemption. Dept of Agriculture

Medicines, nicotine and alcohol

Item Short answer What the official page says Official source
Vitamins and supplements Awkward as a gift Allowed if commercially packaged, up to three months' supply and brought in by the person who will use them. Dept of Agriculture
Prescription and over-the-counter medicines Check first The Department refers you to the TGA or Border Force. The TGA's personal importation scheme covers your own or immediate family's use, needs an Australian prescription for prescription-only medicines, and says products can't be given away. TGA: Personal Importation Scheme
Nicotine vapes No The TGA says vapes can't be bought from overseas retailers or websites for personal use. TGA: vapes, information for individuals
Nicotine pouches No From 24 July 2026 there is no lawful pathway for consumers to import them. Pouches arriving are seized and destroyed by Border Force. TGA: nicotine pouches
Cigarettes, loose-leaf tobacco, shisha, heat-not-burn No, by post These need an import permit, and permit conditions say they can't come through international mail. Border Force: tobacco permits
Cigars, chewing tobacco, oral snuffs under 1.5 kg Conditions Can come by international mail if declared, with all duties and taxes paid. Border Force: cigars and oral tobacco
Alcohol Conditions Duty and taxes are payable whatever the value. Royal Mail won't post drinks over 70% alcohol by volume. Border Force: import declarations; Royal Mail Australia page

Hazardous and prohibited goods

Item Short answer What the official page says Official source
Aerosols, lighters, fireworks, Christmas crackers, flammable or explosive items No All listed by Royal Mail as items you can't post to Australia, along with compressed air and empty cylinders. Royal Mail Australia page
Weapons, including replicas No Royal Mail lists weapons and replica weapons as items you can't post. Border Force lists firearms, ammunition and other weapons as prohibited categories. Royal Mail Australia page; Border Force: prohibited goods
Drugs, biological samples, poisonous liquids such as pesticides No All on Royal Mail's can't-post list. Border Force's prohibited categories include narcotics and pesticides. Royal Mail Australia page; Border Force: prohibited goods
Anything else on Border Force's lists Check first Includes endangered-species products, hazardous goods and cultural items. Search before you post. Border Force: prohibited goods

Checked on 25 October 2026. Sealed chocolate, cooked biscuits, plain tea and roasted coffee are on the allowed list. Royal Mail's page was last captured on 11 June 2026, and these pages change, and the Department's Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) is the full list, so check the current page before you post. If your item isn't on any list, use the Department's mail enquiry form.

The border cares far more about what's inside the parcel than what it cost.

What happens to undeclared or banned items

The Department of Agriculture says goods that don't meet the import conditions are destroyed or sent back to the sender, and some can be treated first at the importer's expense. If goods have been packed in a way designed to hide them, the importer may face an investigation and possible criminal prosecution. For some goods there's no way back: the TGA says nicotine pouches arriving in Australia are seized and destroyed by the Border Force.

Royal Mail won't carry the items on its can't-post list either, so a banned item may be refused before it leaves the UK. With anything borderline, leave it out or ask first. A jar of honey that's declared and inspected is fine. Something hidden isn't, and the cost of treatment lands on the person in Australia.

A gift packed in Australia never crosses the border

Everything above applies to a parcel that crosses the Australian border. A gift packed and delivered inside Australia never does, so there's no customs form, no duty line and no biosecurity inspection of that parcel. That's how Same Skies works. Lewis and Jess pack every box by hand in Sydney, Monday to Friday, and send it with Australia Post to an address inside Australia. It's a domestic delivery, so your gift never goes through customs.

The Hug Away From Home box, packed with a candle, bath soak, truffles and a crochet companion
The Hug Away From Home box

Delivery is free on every box and usually takes 2 to 5 business days after dispatch to most Australian addresses, longer for regional and remote areas, with tracking emailed to you. Your words live behind a QR code on a premium card inside the box, and they open it by pointing a phone camera at the code. Prices are shown in pounds as a guide; you pay in Australian dollars and your bank converts at checkout. For Christmas on Standard (free) delivery, order by 11:59pm Sydney time (12:59pm UK time the same day) on Tuesday 15 December for NSW, ACT, Victoria, Queensland, SA and Tasmania, Monday 14 December for WA, and Thursday 10 December for the NT and regional or remote addresses.

The trade-off is choice. You pick from our boxes, or build your own with six or eight gifts, so it can't carry your mum's fruit cake. If the homemade thing is the point, post it yourself using the checklist above, and check the cheapest way to send a parcel to Australia first. If you'd rather they open a present with no form to fill in, you can send a gift to Australia from the UK from here. For more, see our guides to sending to Australia from the UK.

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Choose every piece from the UK, pick a print that feels like them, then add your letter with a photo or video behind the QR card. We hand-pack it in Sydney and deliver it in Australia.

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Questions people ask

Do you pay customs on a gift sent to Australia from the UK?

Usually not. Australian Border Force says most goods worth AUD 1,000 or less have no duties, taxes or charges to pay, except alcohol and tobacco, which are taxed at any value. Over AUD 1,000, the person receiving the goods pays duty, taxes and an import processing charge before release.

What items cannot be shipped to Australia?

Uncanned meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled or frozen food, live plants, nicotine vapes and pouches, cigarettes, aerosols, lighters, fireworks, weapons and drugs are the main ones. Seeds, honey, wooden items, dairy, supplements and medicines are allowed only with conditions. Our table lists the official page for each.

What do I write on the customs form for a gift to Australia?

Not "gift". The Australian Department of Agriculture says gift, present and goods aren't acceptable descriptions, so list each item and what it's made from, in English, packing included. Use a CN22 for items up to £270 and a CN23 above that, or let Click & Drop generate the label.

Does the person receiving a gift in Australia have to do anything?

Usually not. They may have to pay and lodge an import declaration if the goods are over AUD 1,000 or include alcohol or tobacco, and the parcel may be held for a biosecurity check. If an item needs treatment it costs AUD 94 per item, paid by the importer.

Is there a gift allowance for parcels sent to Australia?

We couldn't find a separate gift allowance on the Border Force or ATO pages. The AUD 1,000 rule applies to gifts as it does to any other import, and it counts the whole consignment, not each parcel.

Does a gift packed and delivered inside Australia go through customs?

No. A gift that's bought, packed and posted within Australia never crosses the border, so there's no customs form, duty or biosecurity inspection of that parcel. Same Skies boxes are packed by hand in Sydney and sent with Australia Post.

No customs form, no sniffer dogs

Packed by hand in Sydney, delivered free across Australia, with your words waiting behind a QR code inside.

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