The threshold map for small parcels

The threshold map and the basis behind it

A threshold map is only useful if the numbers on it were collected the same way. The eight rows below come from the desk duty bands, re-checked against public notices and re-dated on 18 September 2026. Each row carries two gates: the value at which duty starts, and the value at which a turnover tax starts. Where the two gates differ, the difference is the whole story.

The bands are deliberately written as ranges rather than single figures. Apparel duty in one destination runs from nothing to a third of the value depending on fibre and construction, and footwear runs wider still. A map that printed one rate per category would look tidier and be wrong more often.

Two conventions run through the table. Values are in the currency each destination actually assesses in, because converting them into one currency hides how differently the gates are set. And every parcel in the worked column is assessed on its landed value, meaning goods plus international postage plus any other charge on the invoice.

Eight destinations, read as two gates each

The United States pairs the highest published de minimis in the set with the widest duty band. Below the gate a personal shipment normally clears without duty, and above it the rate depends on the fibre and construction of the item, so two similar garments can be assessed differently.

The United Kingdom and the European Union both put their gates at a mid-three-figure value in local currency. Below the gate, the turnover tax is normally collected earlier in the chain rather than at the border, which is why a low-value parcel can arrive with nothing to pay and still have been taxed.

Canada is the outlier that catches people. A postal de minimis of twenty Canadian dollars means almost every parcel is assessed, and courier lines add a brokerage charge on top of the duty, so the border line on a Canadian parcel is usually two lines rather than one.

Australia and New Zealand invert the familiar pattern. Both set a four-figure duty gate and a much lower tax gate, with Australia taxing from the first dollar on most imported goods, so a low-value parcel can be duty-free and still carry a tax line.

Japan and Singapore look generous for different reasons. Japan grants relief to small personal consignments, which means the parcel has to stay one consignment rather than being split. Singapore assesses no duty on apparel or footwear at all, so the only line is the turnover tax once the consignment passes the relief figure.

Where duty starts and where tax starts

Reading the map as a ranking of generosity is the fastest way to misuse it. The right reading is sequential: find the row, find the parcel value, compare it with the first gate, and only then look at the second. If the value is under the first gate, the duty columns are irrelevant and you move to the tax gate instead of continuing down the row.

This sequence explains the two results that surprise people most. Singapore is the destination where a duty-free classification still produces a bill, because the relief gate is the last gate on the row and the tax starts when it is passed. Japan is the destination where a parcel that looks expensive in yen clears untouched, because ten thousand yen is a small consignment figure in the currency it is written in.

It also explains why the crossed cases are the ones worth memorising. Australia is crossed in one direction: duty has a high gate and tax has none. Canada is crossed in the other: both gates are low, so the assessment happens almost always and the courier charge follows it.

One worked parcel on each row

The worked column below applies the same imaginary parcel to every destination: two garments, declared at the equivalent of USD 110, with international postage of USD 24 on the invoice. Because postage joins the landed value in most of these systems, the number that gets compared with the gate is 134, not 110, and that single fact moves several rows.

1. Postage on this parcel is eighteen percent of the value that gets compared with the gate.
2. Four of the eight destinations show no border line at this value, for three different reasons.
3. Two destinations show a tax line without a duty line, which is the pattern readers most often miss.

Reading the anomalies, not the headline numbers

The anomaly column has four entries that repay attention. Canada charges on a low-value parcel and charges twice, once as duty and once as a provincial tax. Australia charges tax on a parcel that its duty gate never sees. Singapore charges tax on goods that carry no duty at all. Japan charges nothing, and the reason is a consignment rule rather than a value rule.

The consignment point deserves its own line. Where relief is granted to a small consignment, three parcels of the same goods arriving on the same day are not automatically a small consignment each. Splitting a shipment to stay under a gate can fail on its own terms, and the failure is a query rather than a saving. The desk keeps the flag on the Japan lane for precisely this reason.

The valuation basis is where most disputes start. The desk records thresholds with an explicit note that several destinations assess on the landed value including international postage. If you compute against the goods value alone, your arithmetic and the officer arithmetic will differ by exactly the postage, and the difference will look like an error rather than a convention.

Finally, note what the map does not contain. It does not contain a rate for any single item, because rates depend on material and construction and the honest unit is a band. It does not contain a prediction of what a particular parcel will be charged, because two parcels with the same value and different descriptions can land differently. And it does not contain a recommendation about where to ship, because the destination is usually chosen for other reasons before the threshold question is asked.

The data point behind this note

Duty band table rebuilt in KB-2026-09 (eight destinations, each band re-checked against a public notice and re-dated 2026-09-18): two gates per destination plus category rate ranges, with the worked parcel computed on the landed-value basis the bands state.

◇KB-2026-09· 2026-09-30 Batch ledger · Challenge a figure

Notes in the same cluster

Related entries and gauges

• How is duty assessed when postage is added to the price?
• Border cost bench

  Duty and tax assessed on the landed value, as a band.