Shipping Wine and Spirits

[Buzz]

Hi All,

I am planning to ship my household contents to NZ.

On initial investigation, I was under the assumption that if immigrating with "right to residency" that one could bring in this stuff without paying duty.
Now I'm not so sure... The tax on this stuff is not cheap and it wouldn't be worth bringing if I had to pay the customs and excise duties as per the website.

Does anybody have first-hand experience with this? I have emailed feedback@customs.govt.nz but just received an automated email back.

Thanks!

[Kath]

Hi Buzz,

You can bring your spirits along free of duty, as part of your household goods. There are some requirements you have to fulfill but check this with your shipping company, they should be able to tell you what to do.

Cheers,
Kath

[doreysc]

We brought our, declared it and they waived any duty we may have owed.

Simon

[wellywearer]

We also brought ours, not a lot, but we did have a special form to complete stating all.
Our relocating company initially said we'd have to pay duty but we've been here 6 months now, part way down the bottles and no one has asked for any duty!!

[Buzz]

Great responses! Thanks to all...
Any ideas what the restrictions may be? I know one isn't allowed to sell this stuff in NZ...

[Bozeman]

We also brought our wine collection and paid no duty. We did have to provide details as to when and where the bottles were acquired and how much they cost (just a simple spreadsheet). The only potential issue was that our shipping insurance didn't cover wine. That didn't turn out to be a problem in the end.