Pickup anywhere in Bengaluru, booking at our HSR Layout desk — 9164995001.
South Africa goes out through DTDC's overseas network on a genuine DTDC air waybill, priced per shipment rather than from a card — there is no international card behind this site, and we will not print a per-kilo figure we cannot honour. What is worth knowing in advance is how sharply South African customs separates a genuine gift from everything else.
Clearance is handled by the South African Revenue Service. SARS distinguishes sharply between an unsolicited gift sent person-to-person and goods bought, ordered or shipped commercially. Genuine unsolicited gifts below a set value qualify for relief, and the relief is limited to a small number of consignments per recipient per calendar year — so a steady stream of “gifts” to the same address stops being treated as gifts. Everything else is assessed on its customs value: import duty at the tariff rate for the goods, plus VAT at 15%, paid by the recipient on arrival.
For that reason the invoice matters more here than the packing. Write what is actually in the box, line by line, with a realistic value against each line, and mark a genuine gift as a gift. SARS revalues consignments that look under-declared, and a revaluation costs the recipient both money and days.
The recipient may be asked to produce identification, and where the import is commercial — or where an individual imports frequently or at scale — SARS expects the importer to be registered with a customs client number. If you are sending stock rather than a present, confirm with the consignee that they are set up for it before the parcel leaves Bangalore.
Our own rules are unchanged: no liquids, syrups, oils, ghee, gels, perfumes or aerosols on any route; no cash, gold or jewellery. Sealed factory-packed dry food with a printed ingredient list travels; meat, dairy, fresh produce, plants and seeds do not.
Sending a gift? Say so on the invoice and keep the value honest — that is what decides how SARS treats it. Questions: 9164995001.
Clothing, sealed dry sweets and small presents to relatives in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. Declare it as an unsolicited gift with a genuine value — that is the category SARS gives relief to, and misdescribing it loses the benefit rather than gaining one.
Sarees, sherwanis and outfits ahead of a family event. Give yourself margin: the risk on a dated shipment is customs, not the flight, and there is no service anyone can sell you that removes that.
Contracts, certificates and corporate paperwork. No valuation question and no quarantine question — the cleanest South Africa shipment there is.
Individually, once we know the destination, the weight and the contents. We do not publish an international price list, for the straightforward reason that we do not hold one.
Genuine unsolicited gifts below a set value qualify for relief, and only a small number of them per recipient per calendar year. Beyond that value or that count, import duty plus 15% VAT is charged on the customs value and paid by the recipient.
Line by line, in plain words, with a realistic value against each line, and marked as a gift where it genuinely is one. SARS revalues consignments that look under-declared, and a revaluation costs the recipient both money and days.
It can. Gift relief is limited per recipient per year, and repeated or commercial-looking imports are expected to come to someone registered with SARS as an importer. If you ship regularly, check with the consignee that they are set up for it.
City, postcode, weight and an honest list of contents — that is all it takes to get a real quote.
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