De Minimis Threshold Calculator

Whether a shipment falls below the relief threshold.

Check whether a shipment falls below the de minimis threshold for duty and tax in the destination country.

Written and maintained by Mohit PatelLast checked August 4, 2026How we build these

Destination country

Goods value in the shipment

Shipping charged to the buyer

Duty rate for your commodity code

Duty rates and thresholds change with trade policy. These are planning estimates, the entry filed with customs decides the actual charge.

Charges at the border

£26.40

below the duty relief threshold

Duty threshold£135

Import VAT thresholdnone, applies from the first unit

Duty payablerelieved

Import VAT payable£26.40

At £120 this shipment sits £15 under the £135 duty threshold, but Import VAT still applies, the two thresholds are not the same number.

How the De Minimis Threshold Calculator works

Below a certain shipment value, most countries waive duty because collecting it costs more than it raises. The thresholds vary enormously and, importantly, duty relief and tax relief usually sit at different levels, which catches out sellers who assume one number covers both.

Also known as: duty free threshold calculator · low value import threshold · Section 321 threshold

The underlying calculation

A de minimis threshold is a shipment value below which duty, tax, or both are not collected. The test is normally the value of the consignment rather than the individual item, and the value definition, goods only, or goods plus freight, varies by country.

There are usually two separate thresholds: one relieving duty and one relieving tax. They are frequently different numbers and are commonly assumed to be the same.

Worked through

The UK relieves duty below £135 and charges VAT from the first pound, with the seller accounting for it at the point of sale below that threshold. A £110 consignment attracts no duty and 20% VAT collected by the seller; a £140 one attracts both at the border.

The EU works the same way: €150 relieves duty only, and VAT applies from the first euro, collected through IOSS where the seller is registered.

Australia and New Zealand set the border threshold much higher: A$1,000 and NZ$1,000, but require offshore suppliers above a registration turnover to collect GST at the point of sale on goods below it. The tax is collected either way; only the collection point moves.

Where it goes wrong

The thresholds are among the fastest-moving numbers in international trade. The EU and UK removed their low-value VAT exemptions in 2021, and the United States has taken substantial executive action on its Section 321 provision since 2025: so any figure, including the defaults in this calculator, needs checking against the current official position before it is relied on.

Splitting a shipment to stay under a threshold is also specifically addressed in most regimes. Consignments to the same recipient on the same day are generally aggregated, and deliberate splitting is treated as evasion rather than planning.

Making it useful

Verify the current threshold with the destination customs authority before building a business model on it. This is the input with the shortest shelf life in the whole of landed cost, and the calculator's fields are editable precisely because of that.

Then model your economics without the relief as well as with it. A cross-border business whose margin depends on a de minimis exemption is exposed to a policy decision it has no influence over, and several have discovered that abruptly.

What the thresholds mean for a cross-border seller

Where a threshold applies, direct shipping of individual orders can be competitive with holding stock in-market, because each parcel clears with little or no charge. Where it does not, every parcel carries duty, tax and a clearance fee, and the clearance fee alone frequently exceeds the margin on a small order.

That is why the removal of low-value relief pushed so many sellers toward in-market inventory. Importing 1,000 units in one consignment attracts one clearance fee and a much lower per-unit freight cost than 1,000 individual parcels, and domestic delivery rates apply thereafter.

The crossover is usually a few hundred orders a month into a single country. Below it, direct shipping with the tax collected at the point of sale is simpler; above it, in-market stock is cheaper on almost every line. Watching for that crossover deliberately, rather than discovering it when the numbers stop working, is the practical use of this calculation.

Where to go next

The De Minimis Threshold question rarely arrives on its own. These are the ones that usually come with it:

Import Duty Calculator — Duty and import tax on the correct valuation basis.
International Shipping Cost Calculator — Cross-border cost including duty and clearance.
Import Duty Calculator EU — Duty and import tax for EU.
Etsy Fee Calculator — Every Etsy fee on one sale, itemised.

Sources

Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price, check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is a de minimis threshold?

The shipment value below which customs does not collect duty, and sometimes tax. It exists because processing a small entry costs more than the revenue. The US threshold has historically been high at $800; the EU relieves duty below €150.

Does de minimis cover VAT as well as duty?

Usually not. The EU removed VAT relief entirely in 2021, so VAT applies from the first euro while duty is relieved below €150. The UK works similarly around £135. Assuming one threshold covers both is a common and expensive error.

Can I split a shipment to stay under the threshold?

No. Deliberately splitting a consignment to fall under de minimis is treated as evasion in most jurisdictions, and customs look for the pattern. Genuinely separate orders from separate customers are a different matter.

Is the threshold based on goods value or the total?

It varies. Some countries assess the intrinsic value of the goods alone; others include freight. Check the specific rule, because a shipment just under on goods value can be over once freight is counted.