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, 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 person-to-person gift?” 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.
$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. The bona fide gift exemption (19 CFR 10.152–10.153, under the longstanding exemptions of 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(A)–(B)) is a different rule and was expressly preserved. So “it’s under $800” no longer makes a commercial parcel free; only genuine gift status does.
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 person-to-person AND aggregate ≤ threshold.
- Gift over the limit — a real gift whose aggregate > threshold → the whole value is dutiable.
- Commercial import — not a bona fide gift, or not person-to-person → 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, but the bona fide gift exemption is a separate rule that was expressly preserved. A genuine person-to-person gift 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?
Generally no. A bona fide gift is an article the donor formerly owned and gave outright, in its entirety, for free. Goods bought (a purchase, barter, or promissory exchange) are excluded, and a “bonus article” given with a purchase is excluded too (19 CFR 10.153(a)). A store shipment of goods is a commercial import.
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 10.153 (the bona-fide-gift definition — given outright, free; not a purchase, barter, promissory exchange, or bonus article — and the gift marking) and 145.32 (gifts by mail, same $100 / $200). Confirmed verbatim via the Cornell LII mirror — cbp.gov returned HTTP 403 and ecfr.gov / federalregister.gov redirected to a CAPTCHA gate here, so the primary text was read through Cornell LII.
- 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).
- 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); the bona fide gift exemption is separate and preserved. Confirm with CBP before relying on it.