USPS's own listing for Australia never states a duty rate or a duty-free threshold — several of our own guides to that lane say so directly. Australia's Border Force does state it, on its own site: 10% Goods and Services Tax on the value of a taxable importation, and customs duty on top of that once a parcel's value passes AUD 1,000. Under that line is not automatically tax free, either — it is usually taxed a different way. Both pages below were read on 2026-08-31.
Border Force runs the border. A separate scheme, administered by the Australian Taxation Office, runs the checkout.
Australian Border Force's page on import charges states the threshold directly, without hedging:
“Imported goods with a value over AUD1000 and some imported goods like tobacco, tobacco products and alcohol, are subject to the payment of: customs duty, and taxes and other charges, including an import processing charge.”Australian Border Force, Other Importing Charges, abf.gov.au, read 2026-08-31
Read plainly, that sentence does two things at once. It sets AUD 1,000 as the line that turns customs duty on for an ordinary parcel, and it carves out a short list of goods — tobacco, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages — that owe duty and tax regardless of what the parcel is worth. Everything else follows the value test. An import processing charge rides along with duty and tax once either is triggered; it is a separate line item, not folded into the GST percentage below.
Border Force's page on GST and other taxes is specific about both the rate and what it is a rate of:
“The rate of GST applicable on taxable importations is 10% of the value of the taxable importation.”Australian Border Force, GST and Other Taxes, abf.gov.au, read 2026-08-31
The same page defines that value as a sum, not a single figure: the customs value of the goods, plus any duty payable on them, plus the cost of transporting and insuring the shipment to Australia, plus Wine Equalisation Tax where it applies. Duty gets taxed along with the goods it sits on top of, which is why a dutiable parcel's GST line is always larger than 10% of the item's price alone once duty is added into the base it is calculated against.
| Declared value | What Border Force assesses on arrival |
|---|---|
| AUD 1,000 or under (ordinary goods) | Generally neither duty nor GST at the border, per Border Force's own value test |
| Over AUD 1,000 | Customs duty (item-specific rate) + 10% GST on customs value plus duty plus freight and insurance + an import processing charge |
| Tobacco, tobacco products, alcohol | Duty and tax regardless of declared value |
Border Force's own GST page is unusually direct about where its authority stops:
“This web page focuses solely on taxable importations because we have no role in the administration of taxable supplies. For information on taxable supplies you should look at the web site of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).”Australian Border Force, GST and Other Taxes, abf.gov.au, read 2026-08-31
That handoff exists because Australia runs a second GST mechanism alongside the border one, aimed at exactly the parcels the AUD 1,000 test lets through: everyday consumer goods bought from overseas. Under that regime, an overseas retailer selling into Australia can be required to register for GST and charge it on the sale itself, the same way an Australian retailer would — so the tax is collected at checkout, by the seller, rather than assessed by Border Force when the parcel lands. A US seller who is not registered for that scheme, or a private individual sending a parcel rather than selling one, is not covered by it, which is one reason two ordinary-looking Australia-bound parcels can be handled two different ways. The Australian Taxation Office administers the registration and collection side of it; Border Force's own pages, read for this guide, do not carry the specifics.
The Australian Taxation Office administers GST on low-value imported goods sold by overseas retailers; its own site carries the registration thresholds and mechanics for that side and is worth checking directly before assuming how a specific seller handles it. Both Border Force pages above are revised on their own schedule and without a public changelog — re-check them before relying on a figure for an actual shipment.
Two separate charges, not one. Goods and Services Tax runs 10% of the taxable importation's value, and customs duty is a second, item-specific charge that sits on top of GST once a parcel's value passes AUD 1,000. Australian Border Force collects both at the border on anything over that line; under it, GST is often collected differently, and duty generally does not apply at all outside a short list of goods like tobacco and alcohol.
Yes. The Australian Border Force states the GST Act sets the rate at 10% of the value of the taxable importation, and that value is not just the price paid — it is the customs value plus any duty payable plus the cost of transport and insurance to Australia, plus Wine Equalisation Tax if it applies. Duty gets taxed along with the goods, not separately from them.
Not at the border, in most cases. Australian Border Force's own page on import charges states plainly that goods valued over AUD 1,000, along with certain goods like tobacco and alcohol regardless of value, are what triggers customs duty and taxes on entry. A parcel under that line generally clears without either being assessed by Border Force at the point of import.
Not necessarily — it is just taxed somewhere else. Australia runs a separate GST regime for low-value imported goods that many overseas retailers are required to register for, charging GST on the sale itself rather than Border Force collecting it on arrival. Border Force's own GST page says directly that it has no role administering that side and points sellers and buyers to the Australian Taxation Office instead.
For most goods, no — duty is described alongside the over-AUD-1,000 threshold on Border Force's own charges page. The stated exceptions are goods like tobacco, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages, which the same page names as subject to duty and tax regardless of declared value.