Originally Posted by jock
customs is obliged to collect tax on imported items, but generally don't chase tax amounts of less than (say) $50. seem to recallexpat having some more info on this sort of stuff from back in TAT 1 or 2
This is for Tiger and you, Yoda. You can check the Customs website, but if I recall, there's two different forms for declaring your imports. You've got a short form for stuff under AU$1000, and the big ugly form for goods over that amount. Something like that, anyway. The thing is, if you have stuff sent over by USPS, then your best mate Lancey says "Hey, these are bike parts for those good Aussie blokes, don't tax them". Ok, that's not the way it works, but if it goes UPS, DHL, or FedEx, they pretty much always do a Customs entry, which is about AU$50, just for the filing. So USPS kind of slips under the radar. Something to keep in mind.