Gifts from abroad

A gift between private individuals can be exempt from customs duty and VAT when its value is no more than EUR 45. But the gift must actually be a gift – a webshop purchase does not become a gift because the parcel is labelled as one.

Applies from

See below

Legal basis

TR-017, TR-018, TR-019

Expert-checked

31 October 2026

Status

Approved

Conditions for the gift exemption

• The sender is a private individual.
• The gift is sent occasionally – e.g. for a birthday or Christmas.
• It is sent without any kind of payment.
• It is for your or your family's personal use.

Over EUR 45

Over EUR 45, customs duty and 25% VAT must be paid. Shipping does not count when assessing whether the gift is over EUR 45 – but it does count in the value on which VAT is paid.

If the parcel contains several gifts worth more than EUR 45 in total, only the articles that together stay under the limit are duty-free. The value of each article must be clearly stated, and an article cannot be split. VAT must be paid when the total value is over EUR 45.

Alcohol, perfume and tobacco

Special restrictions apply to certain types of goods, and they cannot simply use the general EUR 45 exemption.

Sources

1. Toldstyrelsen: gaver sendt fra lande uden for EU – Re-checked 2026-10-31

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