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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft - Assessment, payment, and recovery of duty - Release of goods subject to duty

135: Release of goods subject to duty

You could also call this:

"Getting your goods from Customs when you still owe duty on them"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

When you want to get goods that are being held by Customs, you usually have to pay the duty on them first. You cannot get the goods until you have paid the full amount of duty. If you do not pay the duty, you cannot take action against the Crown, the chief executive, or any Customs officer for keeping your goods.

The chief executive can decide to let you have your goods before you pay the duty in full, but they can set conditions for this. They might let you pay the duty in instalments over a set period if paying it all at once would cause you undue hardship. However, this does not apply to certain types of duties, such as those imposed under the Trade (Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties) Act 1988 or the Trade (Safeguard Measures) Act 2014.

Other parts of the law, such as section 129, 130, 133, or 134, do not change how this rule works. You still have to follow this rule when getting goods that are being held by Customs. The chief executive's decision to let you have your goods before paying duty in full is an exception to the usual rule.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039402.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > TaxesBusiness > Industry rules
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134: Ranking of duty, or

"How to pay duty when you can't afford it and are bankrupt or your company is in trouble"

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136: Goods temporarily imported, or

"Bringing goods into New Zealand for a short time without paying duty upfront"

Part 3Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft
Assessment, payment, and recovery of duty: Release of goods subject to duty

135Release of goods subject to duty

  1. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a person may not obtain the release of goods so that they are no longer subject to the control of Customs until the sum payable by way of duty on the goods is paid in full.

  2. No action or other proceeding may be brought against the Crown, the chief executive, or any Customs officer in respect of the detention of any goods for which the full duty has not been paid.

  3. The chief executive may, subject to any conditions (including conditions as to security) that he or she considers appropriate,—

  4. allow the release of goods so that they are no longer subject to the control of Customs in circumstances approved by the chief executive:
    1. allow the release of goods so that they are no longer subject to the control of Customs and accept payment of duty by instalment over a specified period if he or she considers that undue hardship would result from the payment of duty as required by this section.

      1. Subsection (3)(b) does not apply to duties imposed under the Trade (Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties) Act 1988 or under the Trade (Safeguard Measures) Act 2014.

      2. Nothing in section 129, 130, 133, or 134 affects this section.

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