Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Customs and Excise Act 2018

Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft - Import duties - Debt owed to the Crown

100: Duty on imported goods is debt owed to the Crown

You could also call this:

"Importing goods into New Zealand means you owe the government money, called duty, that must be paid."

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

When you bring goods into New Zealand, you owe the government money, called duty, right away. You owe this money to the Crown, and you have to pay it. The government can take you to court to get this money back. The government can still ask you for this money even if the goods are no longer being watched by Customs, or if you have promised to pay the duty later, or if the government has not worked out how much duty you owe yet, or if they have worked it out wrongly. If you imported goods with someone else, you both owe the money to the government together, and you each owe the money separately as well.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039336.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
Previous

99: Duty applies even if importation prohibited, or

"You must pay duty on goods, even if it's illegal to bring them into New Zealand."

Next

101: Importer must specify Customs value on entry, or

"Tell the government the value of goods you bring into New Zealand"

Part 3Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft
Import duties: Debt owed to the Crown

100Duty on imported goods is debt owed to the Crown

  1. The duty on all imported goods is a debt—

  2. due to the Crown immediately on importation of the goods; and
    1. owed by the importer or importers of the goods; and
      1. recoverable by the chief executive (on behalf of the Crown) in any court of competent jurisdiction.

        1. To avoid doubt, the right to recover duty as a debt due to the Crown is not affected by the fact that—

        2. the goods have ceased to be subject to the control of Customs; or
          1. a bond or any other security has been given for the payment of duty; or
            1. no proper assessment of duty has been made under this Act; or
              1. a deficient assessment of duty has been made under this Act; or
                1. a provisional Customs value has been included in the entry for the goods under section 102.

                  1. If there is more than 1 importer, the debt is owed by all of them jointly and severally.

                  Compare