US Customs · Bona fide gift rule

US Gift vs Commercial Import Duty Checker

Is your incoming US package a duty-free bona fide gift or a dutiable import? Answer the gift test below — the verdict is classified live against 19 CFR 10.152–10.153.

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CN 22 · CUSTOMS DECLARATION

US Customs & Border Protection · 19 CFR 10.152–10.153 · classification estimate

GIFT
FREE OF DUTY & TAXEligible gifts up to $100.00
Aggregate value
$80.00
Duty-free limit
$100.00
Status
Free

Marking a commercial shipment as a “gift” to dodge duty is customs fraud — this label classifies an honest declaration, it never guarantees one. CBP decides at the port of entry.

1. Is this a bona fide gift?

The donor formerly owned it and gave it outright, in its entirety, for free — no payment and no promise of payment. A purchase, barter, or a “bonus article” given with a purchase is NOT a gift (19 CFR 10.153(a)).

2. Is this shipment linked to a purchase or other transaction by the recipient?

Purchases, barter, promissory exchanges and bonus articles linked to a purchase are not gifts (19 CFR 10.153(a)). A business can donate a genuine gift; CBP ordinarily presumes business parcels are not gifts, so clearly mark a genuine gift and enclose a supporting statement (19 CFR 10.153(c)).

3. Does it contain any excluded alcohol or tobacco articles?

19 CFR 10.153(e) excludes alcoholic beverages; cigars (including cheroots and cigarillos); cigarettes containing tobacco; cigarette tubes and papers; smoking tobacco (including water pipe, pipe and roll-your-own tobacco); snuff and chewing tobacco. These cannot receive the gift exemption, even below $100/$200.

4. Is it sent from a US insular possession?

The US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa → a $200 limit instead of $100 (19 CFR 10.152).

The fair retail value in the country of shipment — roughly what it would sell for there.

6. Another gift to the same recipient the same day?

The $100/$200 limit is the aggregate value received by one person on one day — same-day gifts to the same person are added together (19 CFR 10.152).

Verdict

Duty-free bona fide gift

This looks like a duty-free bona fide gift. The aggregate value ($80) is within the $100 per-recipient, per-day limit (19 CFR 10.152), so it should be admitted free of duty and tax. Mark it as an unsolicited gift with the donor and value. This is general guidance, not a guarantee — CBP decides at entry.

Applicable limit
$100.00
Aggregate value
$80.00
Status
Duty-free

Rules behind the verdict

  • A bona fide gift is an article the donor (which may be a commercial firm) formerly owned and gave outright, in its entirety, to the recipient without compensation or promise of compensation. A purchase, barter, promissory exchange, or a so-called bonus article given in conjunction with a purchase is NOT a gift. (19 CFR 10.153(a))
  • CBP ordinarily presumes a parcel from a business firm abroad does not contain a gift. This is not an automatic disqualification: if it contains a qualifying gift, clearly mark the parcel as a gift and enclose a statement documenting it. (19 CFR 10.153(c))
  • No alcoholic beverage, cigars (including cheroots and cigarillos) and cigarettes containing tobacco, cigarette tubes, cigarette papers, smoking tobacco (including water pipe tobacco, pipe tobacco, and roll-your-own tobacco), snuff, or chewing tobacco, shall be exempted from the payment of duty and tax under § 10.151 or § 10.152. The exclusion applies regardless of the $100/$200 limit. (19 CFR 10.153(e))
  • A qualifying bona fide gift from abroad, with no excluded articles under 19 CFR 10.153(e), passes free of duty and tax up to $100 fair retail value, or $200 if sent from the US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa. (19 CFR 10.152)
  • The limit is the AGGREGATE fair retail value of gifts received by one person on one day — multiple gifts to the same recipient on the same day are added together against the single $100/$200 limit. (19 CFR 10.152)
  • Mark the parcel clearly on the outside as an unsolicited gift, with the donor's name and the fair retail value. Such marking is not conclusive — it helps, but it does not by itself prove (or, if absent, disprove) gift status. (19 CFR 10.153(b))
  • Anything that is NOT a bona fide gift is a commercial/normal import and is dutiable. The $800 commercial de minimis that used to let low-value shipments in duty-free was suspended for all countries by Executive Order 14324 (July 2025) and continued by Executive Order 14388 (effective February 24, 2026) — 19 CFR 10.151(b) suspends it outside the postal network from June 24, 2026, and 145.31(b) within that network from July 24, 2026. The bona fide gift exemption is separate. CBP expressly preserves bona fide gifts under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A) (FR 2026‑12670). (EO 14324 / EO 14388 / 19 CFR 10.151(b) / 145.31(b) / FR 2026‑12670)
  • This is general guidance, not legal or customs advice. CBP determines admissibility and any duty at the port of entry (19 CFR 10.152-10.153; 145.32 for mail). Confirm before relying on it. (19 CFR 10.152-10.153)

Governing authority: 19 CFR 10.152, 19 CFR 10.153(a), 19 CFR 10.153(c), 19 CFR 10.153(e), 19 CFR 145.32, Executive Order 14324, Executive Order 14388. General guidance, not legal or customs advice — CBP determines admissibility and duty at the port of entry.

The bona fide gift rule, in one answer

Rules verified 17 October 2026 · eCFR + CBP + Federal Register

A bona fide gift — an article the donor formerly owned and gave outright, in its entirety, for free, with no recipient purchase or excluded articles under 19 CFR 10.153(e), qualifies for relief up to $100 fair retail value, or $200 from the US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa. A purchase, a barter, or a “bonus article” linked to a purchase is not a gift — those are commercial imports, and the $800 de minimis that used to let low-value parcels in free is gone (Executive Order 14324, continued by 14388). Marking a commercial shipment as a “gift” to dodge duty is customs fraud.

$100

Duty-free bona fide gift limit (per recipient, per day)

$200

From the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa

$800

Commercial de minimis — now suspended (EO 14324 / 14388)

Computed entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere. General guidance, not a guarantee: CBP determines admissibility and duty at the port of entry.

Primary sources: 19 CFR 10.152 · 19 CFR 10.153(a), (c), (e) · 145.32 · Executive Order 14324 · Executive Order 14388. Rules verified against 19 CFR 10.152–10.153 / 145.32 (Cornell LII) and the White House fact sheet for Executive Order 14324 — cbp.gov / ecfr.gov / federalregister.gov direct fetch were blocked.

Last verified:

How this checker works

This checker classifies an incoming US package as a duty-free bona fide gift or a dutiable commercial/normal import, computed entirely in your browser — no inputs are sent to a server. A bona fide gift is an article the donor formerly owned and gave outright, in its entirety, for free, even if the donor is a commercial firm; a purchase, barter, or a bonus article given with a purchase is not a gift (19 CFR 10.153(a)). CBP ordinarily presumes business parcels are not gifts; clearly mark a genuine gift and enclose a supporting statement (19 CFR 10.153(c)). Alcoholic beverages and the listed tobacco articles are excluded regardless of value (19 CFR 10.153(e)). A qualifying gift without excluded articles passes free of duty and tax up to $100 fair retail value, or $200 if sent from the US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa (19 CFR 10.152; 145.32 for mail). The limit is the aggregate value received by one person on one day, so same-day gifts to the same recipient are added together; once the aggregate exceeds the limit, the whole value is dutiable, not just the excess. Anything that is not a bona fide gift is dutiable: the $800 commercial de minimis that used to admit low-value shipments duty-free was suspended for all countries by Executive Order 14324, and that suspension was continued by Executive Order 14388 (effective for goods entered for consumption on or after February 24, 2026), while the bona fide gift exemption was expressly preserved. Figures are general guidance, not a guarantee — CBP decides admissibility and duty at the port of entry. Rules verified 2026-10-17 against the Cornell LII mirror of 19 CFR 10.152/10.153/145.32, the White House fact sheet for EO 14324, and the Federal Register text of EO 14388 (FR Doc 2026-03829, 91 FR 9433).

Bona fide gift or commercial import — why it matters now

For years, a low-value parcel could clear US customs duty-free under the $800 de minimis — the administrative exemption of Section 321(a)(2)(C) / 19 CFR 10.151. Executive Order 14324 suspended that commercial de minimis for all countries (continued by Executive Order 14388), so a normal low-value commercial import is now dutiable. What the order did not touch is the separate, longstanding bona fide gift exemption. So the question that decides whether your package is free or dutiable is no longer “is it under $800?” — it is “is it a genuine gift with no purchase link or excluded articles, within the daily limit?” This checker turns the gift rules of 19 CFR 10.152–10.153 into a single verdict.

What counts as a bona fide gift

Under 19 CFR 10.153(a), a bona fide gift is “an article formerly owned by a donor … who gave it outright in its entirety to a donee without compensation or promise of compensation.” It does not include articles acquired by purchase, barter, promissory exchange, or similar transaction, nor a so-called “bonus article” given in conjunction with a purchase. The donor may even be a commercial firm — but it must be an outright, free gift, not goods you ordered or paid for. A package a company ships you because you bought something is a commercial import, however it is labelled.

Genuine gifts from a business donor

A commercial firm may be the donor under 19 CFR 10.153(a). Under 19 CFR 10.153(c), CBP ordinarily presumes that a parcel from a business abroad does not contain a gift. That is not automatic disqualification: clearly mark a genuine gift and enclose a statement documenting it. A recipient purchase, barter, exchange or bonus article remains commercial.

Alcohol and tobacco do not qualify

19 CFR 10.153(e) excludes alcoholic beverages; cigars (including cheroots and cigarillos); cigarettes containing tobacco; cigarette tubes and papers; smoking tobacco (including water pipe, pipe and roll-your-own tobacco); snuff and chewing tobacco. These articles cannot be exempted from duty and tax under the gift rule, even at $99.99 or below the $200 insular limit. The checker returns “Excluded goods — dutiable” for a genuine gift containing any of them.

$100, or $200 from an insular possession

A qualifying gift passes free of duty and tax where the aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipment “received by one person on one day does not exceed $100 or, in the case of articles sent from a person in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, $200” (19 CFR 10.152). Gifts sent by mail use the same thresholds and conditions (19 CFR 145.32). The figure that matters is the fair retail value where it was sent from — roughly what it would sell for there — not what the donor paid.

Same-day gifts are added together

The limit is an aggregate per recipient per day. If one person receives several gifts on the same day, their values are added together against the single $100 / $200 limit (19 CFR 10.152). Two $60 gifts to the same person on the same day are a $120 aggregate — over the $100 limit — even though each gift on its own would fit. Spreading the same gifts across different days, or to different recipients, keeps each within its own daily limit.

Over the limit? The whole value is dutiable

This is the costly surprise. The gift exemption is a threshold, not a deductible allowance. Once the aggregate fair retail value exceeds $100 (or $200), the exemption is lost and the whole value becomes dutiable as a commercial/normal import — not just the amount over the limit. A $150 gift is not “$100 free, $50 dutiable”; the entire $150 is dutiable. There is no first-$100-free carve-out on an over-limit gift.

Marking the package as a gift

A gift parcel “should be clearly marked on the outside to indicate that it contains a gift” (19 CFR 10.153(b)) — in practice, labelled “Unsolicited Gift” with the donor’s name and the fair retail value. But marking is not conclusive: a “gift” label does not by itself prove gift status, and its absence does not by itself disprove it. CBP looks at the substance of the transaction, then decides.

This is not the suspended $800 de minimis

Keep two things separate. The $800 de minimis (Section 321(a)(2)(C) / 19 CFR 10.151) was the commercial exemption for low-value shipments — and it was suspended for all countries under Executive Order 14324 (continued by Executive Order 14388). The bona fide gift exemption (19 CFR 10.152–10.153, under the longstanding exemptions of 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A)) is a different rule and was expressly preserved. So “it’s under $800” no longer makes a commercial parcel free; a genuine gift must also meet the daily limit and contain no excluded articles under 19 CFR 10.153(e).

How the verdict is built

  • Threshold = $200 if from a US insular possession (Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa), else $100.
  • Aggregate = this gift’s fair retail value + any other gift(s) to the same recipient the same day.
  • Duty-free gift when it is a bona fide gift AND no recipient purchase or excluded articles (19 CFR 10.153(a), (e)) AND aggregate ≤ threshold.
  • Gift over the limit — a real gift with no excluded articles whose aggregate > threshold → the whole value is dutiable.
  • Excluded goods — alcohol or listed tobacco articles → dutiable regardless of value, even for a genuine gift (19 CFR 10.153(e)).
  • Commercial import — not a bona fide gift, or linked to a purchase or other transaction by the recipient → dutiable (the $800 de minimis is suspended).

Everything is computed in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to a server. Every verdict is general guidance, not a guarantee; CBP determines admissibility and duty at the port of entry.

Frequently asked questions

Are gifts still duty-free now that de minimis is suspended?

Yes. Executive Order 14324 suspended the commercial $800 de minimis (continued by Executive Order 14388, effective February 24, 2026), but the bona fide gift exemption is a separate rule that was expressly preserved. A genuine gift, including one from a business donor, with no recipient purchase or excluded articles under 19 CFR 10.153(e), up to $100 fair retail value ($200 from the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa) is still admitted free of duty and tax under 19 CFR 10.152.

Is a $150 gift “$100 free and $50 dutiable”?

No. The $100 / $200 figure is a threshold, not a deductible allowance. Once the aggregate value exceeds the limit, the whole value is dutiable, not just the excess — the entire $150 would be dutiable.

My relative ordered something for me from a store abroad — is that a gift?

The store sender alone does not decide it. Under 19 CFR 10.153(a), the donor must have formerly owned the article and given it outright, entirely free, without compensation or its promise. A purchase or transaction by you, or a bonus article linked to it, is not a gift. For a genuine gift sent by a business, clearly mark the parcel and enclose a statement documenting the gift because CBP ordinarily presumes otherwise (19 CFR 10.153(c)). The value limit and exclusions in 19 CFR 10.153(e) still apply.

Does writing “Gift” on the box make it duty-free?

No. The parcel should be marked to indicate it contains a gift, but that marking is not conclusive evidence of a gift, and its absence is not conclusive that it is not one (19 CFR 10.153(b)). CBP looks at the substance of the transaction.

Is anything I enter sent to a server?

No. The verdict is computed entirely in your browser from the rules described above. Nothing you enter leaves your device.

Sources

  • 19 CFR 10.152 — bona-fide gifts: free of duty and tax where the “aggregate fair retail value … received by one person on one day does not exceed $100 or, in the case of articles sent from a person in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, $200.” Plus 19 CFR 10.153(a), (c), (e) (gift definition including business donors in (a), business-parcel presumption and documentation in (c), alcohol and tobacco exclusions in (e), and gift marking in (b)) and 145.32 (gifts by mail, same $100 / $200). Confirmed by the coordinator from eCFR on 17 October 2026.
  • 19 CFR 10.153(a), (c), (e): business donors, documentation and excluded articles checked on against the official CFR text (GovInfo) and the current Cornell LII mirror. Other rule verification dates are unchanged.
  • Executive Order 14324 — suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries (the commercial $800 exemption, Section 321(a)(2)(C) / 19 CFR 10.151), while “longstanding exemptions under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A) and (B) remain in place — meaning … individuals can continue to receive bona fide gifts valued at $100 or less duty-free.” Confirmed verbatim from the White House fact sheet and the Federal Register implementation notice (the Federal Register page was CAPTCHA-gated to direct fetch, so its text was confirmed via a search digest).
  • Executive Order 14388 — “Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” (signed February 20, 2026; effective for goods entered for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. EST February 24, 2026). It revised Section 2 of EO 14324 so the de minimis exemption under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) “shall not apply to any shipment of articles not covered by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b), regardless of value,” keeping the commercial $800 de minimis suspended after the Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 IEEPA ruling. Confirmed verbatim from the Federal Register text (91 FR 9433, FR Doc 2026-03829).
  • 19 CFR 10.151(b) suspends de minimis outside the postal network from 24 June 2026; 145.31(b) does so for postal shipments from 24 July 2026. CBP rule 2026‑12670 expressly preserves bona fide gifts under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A); see also the postal rule.
  • Distinct-from-de-minimis basis: 19 CFR 10.151 (the suspended commercial $800 de minimis) — named only to keep the gift exemption and the commercial de minimis separate.

General guidance, not legal or customs advice. Whether a package is admitted as a duty-free bona fide gift, and any duty owed, are determined by CBP at entry under 19 CFR 10.152–10.153 (and 145.32 for mail). The $800 commercial de minimis is suspended (Executive Order 14324, continued by Executive Order 14388); the bona fide gift exemption is separate and preserved. Confirm with CBP before relying on it.