US Customs Duty-Free Allowance for Travelers (2026)

What the Personal Exemption Is (and Is Not)

US residents returning from abroad may bring in personal-use goods up to a published exemption without paying duty, if the goods accompany them and they declare them. CBP's longstanding structure — still the one officers apply — is:

• $800 for returning residents arriving from most countries, once every 30 days, when the stay abroad was at least 48 hours (the 48-hour stay does not apply to Mexico and the US Virgin Islands).
• $1,600 when returning from the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam, with a sub-limit on how much of that can be from elsewhere.
• Family members living in the same household and traveling together may pool their exemptions.

Those dollar figures are CBP's published personal-exemption amounts, not a new 2026 proclamation. If CBP updates the dollar caps, the officer's card and cbp.gov win over this page.

This is not Section 321 de minimis. Mailing yourself a suitcase of 'gifts' to dodge the commercial suspension is the commercial rule, and it will be billed as a commercial entry.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and the Items That Sit Outside the Dollar Cap

The dollar exemption is not a free-for-all. CBP also publishes quantity limits that sit alongside it. The usual adult (21+) alcohol allowance that may enter free of duty and tax, when it is for personal use and within the exemption, is 1 liter. Tobacco is typically 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars. Amounts above those limits owe duty and any applicable federal excise tax even if you are still under the dollar cap.

Restricted goods — certain foods, plant material, weapons, and merchandise that needs an FDA/USDA/CPSC/FCC clearance — are not 'duty-free' just because they fit in a carry-on. Declare them. Agricultural items are the most common seizure at the primary booth.

What Happens When You Go Over

You declare the total value of goods acquired abroad (price actually paid). CBP applies the exemption to the goods that qualify. Duty is assessed on the remainder. There is no honest version of 'they never check.'

This site will not invent a flat overage percentage. Some traveler overages are assessed at the HTS rate for each item; CBP can also use a simplified collection method on a small remainder. If the overage is large — a watch, jewelry, or a second suitcase of apparel — expect item-level classification. Use the personal import duty calculator and the HTS lookup to ballpark the commercial rate; the traveler booth may still be simpler, but the ceiling is the same law.

Keep receipts. 'I don't remember' is how a $400 jacket becomes a $400 argument.

Travelers vs. Shein, Temu, and FBA

Three different facts that get sold as one:

1. A package from Shein or Temu is a commercial shipment. De minimis is gone. You will see a carrier duty bill. See why you got a customs bill.
2. Inventory sent to Amazon FBA is a commercial import. The traveler exemption does not apply. See Amazon FBA import duty.
3. Goods in your luggage that you bought on the trip, for personal use, declared at arrival, are the traveler exemption.

If you are carrying commercial quantities — 40 identical hoodies, a suitcase of resale sneakers — CBP can treat that as a commercial entry even though you walked through the airport. Personal use is a facts-and-circumstances test, not a font on the declaration card.

Returning Residents vs. Non-Residents and Crew

The $800 / $1,600 structure described here is the returning resident personal exemption. Non-residents have a different, usually smaller, allowance for gifts and personal effects. Crew members have still different limits. If you are not a US resident returning home, do not use the $800 figure.

Foreigners bringing a car or household effects are in a different chapter of 19 CFR 148. That is not this page; start from the first-time importer guide or a broker.

Refunds, Dividends, and Airport 'Helpers'

Paying duty at the airport on a traveler overage is not an IEEPA entry and is not in the $166 billion CAPE pool. Do not hand your passport or card to someone in arrivals who offers to 'file your tariff refund' or collect a 'processing fee' for a $2,000 check. No consumer tariff dividend has been approved by Congress. IEEPA refunds, when they exist, go to the importer of record on a commercial entry via ACH after a CAPE declaration — see how to claim an IEEPA refund.

This page is explanatory, not legal advice, and not a substitute for the CBP officer in front of you.