Customs duty on online orders to the Gulf: limits by country

Three charges that can land on a foreign parcel

The price on a foreign website is rarely the full cost of getting a parcel to your door in the Gulf. Up to three extra charges can apply:

1. Customs duty. The GCC customs union, which started on 1 January 2003, applies a unified 5% tariff to foreign goods imported from outside the union. The UAE's Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security says 417 goods are exempt under the approved schedule, and tobacco and its derivatives pay 100%.
2. Import VAT. Charged in Saudi Arabia (15%), Bahrain (10%), the UAE and Oman (5%). In Saudi Arabia the base includes shipping, insurance and any duty. Qatar and Kuwait have no VAT.
3. Clearance or service fees. Set by customs, or charged by the courier for handling the declaration.

Each country also sets, or may set, a value below which personal parcels pay no duty. That relief covers duty only. It does not automatically cover VAT or fees, which is why a "duty-free" parcel can still arrive with a bill.

Duty-free limits for personal parcels, country by country

This table shows what we could and could not confirm from official sources on 26 October 2026. Where a cell says "not confirmed", we found no official page, and we have not repeated figures from couriers or forums.

The Saudi and Qatari limits are both 1,000 in local currency and both refer back to customs procedures shared across the GCC, but that does not prove the other four countries apply the same figure today.

Saudi Arabia: the SAR 1,000 line and the SAR 15 fee

ZATCA's page for online-store customers says personal shipments are exempt from customs duty when the total value of the purchase, counting goods and shipping, is within SAR 1,000. The quantity must be personal rather than commercial, and the goods must not need a release permit from another authority. Above the limit, duty applies at the rate for the item's tariff class.

• VAT still applies. ZATCA says personal goods are not exempt from 15% VAT except as the VAT law provides. The VAT base includes the goods, shipping, insurance, any duty and the declaration fees.
• Flat fee. ZATCA's customs services fee schedule sets SAR 15 for processing the declaration on individuals' shipments from online stores worth up to SAR 1,000.
• Who clears it. The carrier handles clearance and contacts you. For express shipments ZATCA asks only for the importer's full name and ID number.

How a code can move you under the line. A SAR 1,000 jacket with SAR 50 shipping totals SAR 1,050, above the limit. Assuming the 5% rate applies to it, duty is SAR 52.50 and 15% VAT on SAR 1,102.50 is about SAR 165.38, before any fee. A 10% code brings the jacket to SAR 900 and the total to SAR 950: no duty, the SAR 15 fee, and 15% VAT on SAR 965, which is SAR 144.75. The code saves SAR 100 on the price and at least SAR 58 in border charges.

UAE: Dubai's new AED 1,000 limit

Customs in the UAE is run emirate by emirate. Dubai Customs' Notice No. 09/2021 on personal imports through e-commerce, in force from 16 May 2021, exempted personal goods worth up to AED 300 arriving by post, courier or registered e-commerce companies. In September 2026 Dubai Customs reported that Circular No. 16/2026, issued on 30 July, raised the threshold for eligible e-commerce shipments from AED 300 to AED 1,000 of CIF value, within defined categories and conditions that the announcement did not list.

• CIF stands for cost, insurance and freight, so shipping and insurance count towards the AED 1,000, not just the item price.
• The 2021 notice excluded tobacco and its derivatives, e-smoking devices, nicotine liquids, alcoholic drinks and food containing alcohol from the exemption. We could not confirm whether the 2026 circular keeps the same list.
• For Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the other emirates we did not find an updated official threshold.
• We could not confirm how 5% import VAT is applied to parcels below the threshold.

Qatar: QAR 1,000 and no VAT

Qatar's General Authority of Customs says incoming parcels and personal mail worth up to QAR 1,000 are exempt from customs duty, as set out in the unified customs procedures guide. Because Qatar has no VAT, a qualifying parcel under that value should not carry duty or VAT, although a courier may still charge its own handling fee.

• The authority asks anyone importing in their own name, including through online purchases, to check first that the item is not restricted or prohibited.
• The QAR 3,000 allowance in the authority's FAQ applies to personal belongings and gifts carried by travellers, not to shipped parcels.

Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait: what we could confirm

• Bahrain: Bahrain Customs' BHD 300 duty-free allowance covers personal effects and gifts accompanying travellers. We did not find an official limit for shipped parcels. In December 2018 Bahrain Customs announced that personal imports and gifts worth less than BHD 300 would be excluded from VAT, which was then 5%; we could not confirm whether that still applies now that the rate is 10%.
• Oman: the Tax Authority says 5% import VAT is collected by the Directorate General of Customs through the Bayan declaration system, on the value in the declaration, and is payable by people who are not VAT-registered. Where no duty is due, VAT is still due at the point duty would have been due. We did not find an official low-value threshold for duty. Oman Customs can be reached on 80080022.
• Kuwait: the Kuwait customs website did not load for us on 26 October 2026, and we found no official parcel threshold elsewhere. Kuwait has no VAT.

Figures for these three countries circulate on courier and forum sites, but they disagree and we could not match them to an official page. Ask the courier or the customs authority before a large order.

How codes, shipping and split orders affect the limit

• Codes count. The limits are based on the value of the purchase, so a code that lowers the invoice can keep a parcel under the line. Keep the order confirmation that shows the discount in case customs questions the declared value.
• Shipping counts. Saudi Arabia adds goods and shipping together, and Dubai's new limit uses CIF value. A free-shipping code can matter as much as a price code; compare stores on our free-delivery data.
• Declare the real value. Asking a seller to write a lower value on the parcel is not allowed and can lead to the parcel being held.
• Splitting orders. The exemptions are for personal, non-commercial quantities. Splitting a large order of identical items into several parcels does not change what the goods are.
• Gulf warehouses. Oman's Tax Authority notes that, until all GCC states apply VAT with an electronic tracking system, goods from another GCC state are treated as imports for VAT. A store shipping from a warehouse in a neighbouring Gulf country may still involve VAT at the border, so check checkout.

Before you pay for a foreign order

1. Add the item price and shipping together and compare the total with your country's limit, where one is confirmed.
2. At checkout, look for wording such as "duties included" or "duties and taxes paid". If you see it, nothing should be due on delivery.
3. If nothing is collected at checkout, expect the courier to ask for duty, VAT or fees before delivery, and pay only through the courier's official app or website after checking the tracking number.
4. For supplements, medicines, cosmetics and wireless devices, check whether a permit is needed. Saudi Arabia's exemption does not cover goods that need a release permit from another authority.
5. Keep the invoice, the discount confirmation and the tracking number until the parcel is delivered and any return is settled.

For store-by-store delivery terms, open the store page, for example AliExpress, iHerb or SHEIN, and check the latest notes before ordering.