Frequently Asked Questions

Retailers (Internet and Catalogue) will usually include advice regarding the likelihood of import duties and taxes in their shipping information pages.
To confirm this you may wish to check the Terms & Conditions of your purchase or contact the retailer.

The Duty Free Concession only applies to accompanied baggage and relates to goods up to the value of R25000 with set limits for alcohol and tobacco carried by persons over 18 years of age.
Goods imported which are not accompanied baggage are subject to a different customs regulation with a limit of R500 (subject to 3 such imports per calendar year) and no thresholds for alcohol and tobacco (although the latter are subject to other statutory requirements by Other Government Agencies when imported.

Sometimes this is the case. Products sold by retailers outside South Africa may appear cheaper because they don’t include Duties and Taxes (VAT). For example, clothing can attract a general rate of duty of 45% in addition to 14% VAT which must be factored in to establish the total cost and feasibility of the purchase.

The standard threshold of R1400 (maximum 2 packages per calendar year) applies to gifts and excludes alcohol and tobacco and consigned from a natural person abroad to a natural person in the Republic. All imports valued over this threshold will be assessed for Duties and Taxes.

There is no concession for samples. Samples must be fully described as what they are and valued for Customs purposes at the price paid or payable against which duties will assessed.

Unfortunately ’a change of mind’, ‘how they fit’, or ‘simply not liking them’, is not a refund circumstance under the legislation.
However, as an alternative option if you export the imported goods (return them to the shipper), subject to certain conditions, you may be entitled to a drawback of the duty portion only that was paid.
For information on Drawbacks, go to the customs document relating to the Duty Drawback scheme:
www.sars.gov.za/AllDocs/OpsDocs/Policies/SC-DT-C-13%20-%20Refunds%20and%20Drawbacks%20-%20External%20Policy.pdf

A guide on calculating Duties & Taxes can be found on the South African Revenue Services website:
www.sars.gov.za/ClientSegments/Customs-Excise/Pages/Tariff.aspx
You can also call the DHL Express Duty Collection Team on 011 923 0398; they may be able to assist you or direct you to a DHL Express Customs Broker if you have a detailed inquiry.

Under current customs regulations the cost of the international delivery portion is not added to the declared value of the goods to create the ’Value for Customs’.
However, the cost of the ""Inland Transportation"" leg at origin to the airport of departure must be included. Considering this cost is marginal due to economies of scale, it cannot be accurately determined and therefore not included in the Customs Value as well.

The Shipment Arrival Notification is also a Pro-Forma Invoice which is issued because the charges listed are only an estimation. A final Tax Invoice is issued once the shipment is cleared and will be delivered to you either by hand or electronically.

The Shipment Arrival Notification serves 3 purposes:
1) As a notification informing you of the arrival of the consignment
2) As a pro-forma invoice for payment of the estimated charges due before clearance can proceed
3) Read with the SAD500 bill of entry, as a clearing instruction to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on the bill of entry

This is a DHL Express Fee for the use of DHL’s bond facility with Customs. The Receiver is able to pay Customs through DHL instead of arranging their own clearance, bonds, cash or credit line directly with SARS. The service enables a faster clearance of imported goods requiring formal custom clearance.

Please notify the DHL Service advisor at 011 923 0398 and confirm what amendments are to be made. It is strongly recommended that this instruction be confirmed in writing to the Service Advisor. The required adjustments will then be made and a new Arrival Notification will be sent in due course.

Once payment has been made and allocated to the shipment, the clearance process begins with the submission of the bill of entry to Customs. Customs will then respond on how they wish to treat the clearance i.e. Release or Stopped for Inspection. In either of these scenarios, DHL will update the tracking system accordingly. In the event the shipment is stopped, a DHL Service Advisor will make contact with you to update you on progress here.

You can pay your invoice via the following option:
• Online: using your Waybill number

The goods will remain uncleared and, if there is no request by the shipper to return the goods back to origin within 7 days from date of arrival, DHL is obliged to then remove these goods to the states warehouse where it will be stored for a specific period of time (usually 6 months) before being disposed of at their discretion. Additional charges will be incurred when goods are transferred to the States Warehouse. Note that the States Warehouse may or may not inform you of their intentions or actions in respect of the disposal of the goods.

The sender has the option of nominating to pay the destination Duties and Taxes on the Waybill and Commercial Invoice. This wasn’t done if you’ve been invoiced for the Duties and Taxes.
However these charges can be reversed to the shipper if they confirm to DHL Express at origin in writing that they will accept the charges being reversed to them. The DHL office at origin will in turn inform DHL South Africa of the amended instruction and the invoice will be reversed on receipt of this instruction.