GST fee for bringing over new furniture, etc?

[magcats]

I think I saw/read something about having to pay a fee for shipping items over that are under 1 year old, am I correct?

We will not be making the move for another year to year and a half. I want to buy new bedroom furniture before we move, but my husband is now telling me to wait until we are ready to ship.

Is this on all new items we bring: laptops, bedding, towels, etc.?

[dusk]

I don't think you need to worry too much, as far as I recall it's new, still boxed stuff they are worried about.

[Jon-and-Lou]

I shouldn't worry - we brought over loads of new stuff (clothes, furniture), and we didn't declare it as new, but made sure wrappings etc were removed so there was no telling.

I (well, hubby) did get buy eternity ring prior to leaving the UK, and tried to claim back the tax, but gave up as it was impossible (well, very hard anyway)

Lou

[richsadams]

As others have said, nothing to worry about. They may or may not even inspect your belongings. If they do they'll be looking for multiple new items that could be sold w/o incurring import duty. For example, if you had a dozen new laptops in sealed boxes...that would cause them to inspect the rest of your shipment very carefully and come up with a balance due before releasing your goods. Otherwise they have no interest in your basic home furnishings, etc.

A little advice if I may? Not sure what your housing situation will be, but typical Kiwi homes, including (and particularly) bedrooms, are much smaller than here in the U.S. We have a nice Queen sized bedroom set including triple dresser, armoire, etc. It would fit nicely in most any master bedroom in the states. We lived in three different places in NZ and it all barely fit in two and we had to put the armoire in a separate room in one home. Everyone that saw it commented on how "big" American furniture is. By comparison it is. So be careful what you buy. You're in the heart of "Furniture Land" and I'm sure you'll be able to get a great deal on great furniture. Just keep in mind, Kiwi's do NOT think BIG.

[Jo Jo]

When no customs charges apply

Your household or other related effects (excluding motor vehicles, boats and aircraft) will qualify for concessionary entry, i.e. free of duty and exempt GST, for a reasonable time after you arrive in New Zealand, provided you can meet all of the following conditions.

Conditions

• You have arrived and on the date the effects are imported, hold a document authorising residence in New Zealand; and
• You have resided or lived outside New Zealand for the whole of the 21 months before the date of your arrival in New Zealand; and
• You have owned and used the goods before the date of your departure for New Zealand; and
• The goods are for your own personal use and not intended for any other person or persons or for gift, sale or exchange.

The following goods will not qualify for duty free entry, unless you can establish that the items have had personal use prior to their arrival in New Zealand:

• Goods shipped directly after purchase to avoid local taxes in the country of export
• Replacement electrical equipment operating to New Zealand standards.

Goods of a commercial nature (such as factory plant and office equipment) do not qualify as household effects.

Document authorising residence in New Zealand –
means any of the following:

• A current New Zealand Passport
• A current Australian Passport
• A current New Zealand Residence visa or permit or a current New Zealand returning resident's visa or permit
• A current permanent residence visa (including a resident return visa) issued by the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia
• A current New Zealand work visa or work permit that was issued for a minimum of twelve months
• A current New Zealand work visa or work permit issued under the Work to Residence (Skilled Migrant Category) policy or the Long term Business Visa/Permit category
• A current New Zealand visitor's visa or permit that was issued for a minimum of three years.

[m.brad.russell]

You're in the heart of "Furniture Land" and I'm sure you'll be able to get a great deal on great furniture. Just keep in mind, Kiwi's do NOT think BIG.

Rich -

We are struggling with the idea of whether we should ship our furniture or buy new. Another option we are considering is the idea of buying furniture from Ikea and shipping it, as it would be an efficient use of space. In your opinion, might we do just a well to wait until we get to "Furniture Land" and start anew.

Thanks,
Brad

[richsadams]

Hi Brad,

When I mentioned "Furniture Land" I meant Asheville, NC where the OP lives. New Zealand? Not so much. Being an island nation, NZ has to import a lot of, well, everything. That and being settled by Europeans, particularly the British is why much of what they have and use tends to be on the smaller side by American standards...cost of goods and being accustomed to that. Although they have a thriving timber industry new furniture tends to be on the expensive side and gets used for a long time. We took all of our furniture with us when we first immigrated. However when we return one of these days we'll more than likely sell up and buy what we need there. Your call of course, but there's plenty of good furniture and everything else to be had both new and used.

Besides some clothing and personal items the only other thing I think I'd keep or buy new before I left would be computer equipment. It's a good deal more expensive there not to mention a good six months to a year outdated.

You can Google all sorts of Kiwi things to get an idea of what you'd spend to replace what you have. If you switch your search to www.google.co.nz you'll come up with mostly NZ info. www.nzsearch.co.nz and www.searchnz.co.nz are good local search engines. The ebay of NZ is www.trademe.co.nz (they do have ebay, but hardly anyone uses it). There you can find almost anything you're looking for and get an idea of how much previously owned things cost.

The good news is that people are moving out of NZ all of the time and finding whole households full of everything you need is not uncommon. There are a lot of South Africans coming and going and they tend to bring their furniture with them but often sell it locally when they leave because of the weight. It's not only beautiful but the wood is unbelieveably nice and built for a lifetime if not two! If you can locate some of that you'd do very well to grab it.

Timing is everything and of course it depends on the size of the area you're moving to. But if it's anywhere near a city you can probably find everything you're looking for.

I'd not buy new and ship it...you will end up paying import duty plus GST, just shy of 20%.

BTW, I used to live on El Camino Real in Oceanside and still have fond memories. You'll enjoy NZ, although you should expect just a bit more (or possibly a LOT more) rain depending on where you relocate.

[James 1077]

A little advice if I may? Not sure what your housing situation will be, but typical Kiwi homes, including (and particularly) bedrooms, are much smaller than here in the U.S.

Wow - US bedrooms must be huge! One of the things that my wife and I really like, coming from the UK, is just how large the homes and especially the bedrooms are!

[richsadams]

For better or worse Americans are used to "living large". We have a typical home here in the U.S. now and our master bedroom is about the size of the living and dining room areas that we had in NZ!

[magcats]

Thanks everyone. That's helpful. We need to replace the bedroom furniture we have, so I thought it'd be better to do it here and then ship it.

Rich, how'd you know we were near the heart of "furniture Land"? So you think maybe a triple dresser, a tall dresser, queen-size bed and two bedside tables would be too much? Dang... I guess my hubby will have to live in the third bedroom.

Jo-Jo, thanks for finding the info on it for me.

I appreciate everyone's responses.