As a returning NZ citizen, I'm not charged duty on my shipment back to NZ - but the person at the NZ Embassy in Washington told me that everything in my container had to be at least six months old.
Question: I earn my living as an artist so obviously I have brushes, tubes of paint, frames, boards and stretched canvases - as well as foam core, etc. I could buy a box of stretched canvases a year before leaving yet as they're not painted on, obviously they'll appear 'new'. Any way around this? Are exceptions made for things required to earn a living?
(though I guess I could go in and tone each canvas with a pale oil wash).
Thanks in advance for all the brilliant answers