Informal Customs Entry: Requirements, Fees, and De Minimis Rules

Informal customs entry is a simplified way to import goods worth $2,500 or less into the United States without posting a customs bond or hiring a licensed customs broker.¹ Individuals and small businesses can file the paperwork themselves.² One important change from previous years: the federal government suspended the duty-free de minimis exemption in 2025, so shipments that used to clear with no filing and no duty now need an entry and owe applicable duties.

What Qualifies for Informal Entry

The main rule is a dollar ceiling. If the aggregate value of your shipment is $2,500 or less, it qualifies.³ Congress capped the maximum at $2,500 in the statute, and CBP set the current threshold at that ceiling.

A lower $250 threshold applies to goods classified under Chapter 99, Subchapters III and IV of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.¹ Those subchapters cover products subject to temporary tariff modifications and trade-action provisions, ranging across agricultural products, chemicals, motor vehicles, and electronics touched by trade agreements. If your goods fall in one of those categories and exceed $250, you need formal entry no matter what the total shipment is worth.

A few categories qualify for informal entry regardless of a precise value figure:³

Household and personal effects you used abroad and are bringing back, provided they aren’t for sale.
Tools of trade accompanying you into the country.
Gifts sent from someone abroad to a US recipient.
Merchandise damaged during the voyage or recovered from a wrecked vessel.

Goods That Can’t Use Informal Entry

Even under $2,500, some merchandise is locked out. Goods subject to anti-dumping or countervailing duties must go through formal entry so CBP can correctly assess the protective tariffs.⁴ Goods subject to quota restrictions are also excluded.

CBP also has broad discretion to require formal entry for any shipment when it decides formal processing is needed for admissibility enforcement, revenue protection, or efficient operations.⁵ An officer who suspects undervaluation or sees a product that raises questions can bump your shipment to the formal track.

Products regulated by other federal agencies add another layer. FDA-regulated goods are most commonly processed as formal consumption entries, and high-risk products regulated by agencies such as the CPSC or EPA may be barred from informal entry regardless of value.⁶ Check whether your merchandise falls under a Partner Government Agency that requires additional data through the Automated Commercial Environment before you file.

The 2025 De Minimis Suspension

Until mid-2025, shipments of $800 or less could enter duty-free under the Section 321 de minimis exemption, often with no formal filing at all.⁷ An executive order issued on July 30, 2025, suspended that duty-free treatment for all countries, and a follow-up action in February 2026 continued the suspension.⁸

The practical effect: shipments that used to clear with minimal paperwork now face the same duty rates as any other import. If yours is $2,500 or less, informal entry is the right path, but you owe applicable duties and fees no matter how small the value. Postal shipments are the one exception. Items sent through the international mail system may still qualify for de minimis treatment until CBP establishes a new entry process and publishes it in the Federal Register.⁸

This catches many first-time importers off guard. If you ordered goods online from an overseas seller before 2025, you probably never thought about customs duties. Now every non-postal shipment gets assessed, and without an entry your package sits at the port.

Documents You Need

Informal entry paperwork is lighter than the formal equivalent, but it still has to be accurate. You have three options for the entry form: CBP Form 368 or 368A (designed for informal entry), CBP Form 7501 (the standard Entry Summary), or, if the port director authorizes it, a commercial invoice with a signed declaration affirming the information is accurate.⁹ Most ports accept any of these; if you’re unsure, ask the local customs office which format they prefer before your shipment arrives.

Whichever form you use, it must include an adequate description of the merchandise and the correct Harmonized Tariff Schedule number for each product.¹⁰ The HTS code is a ten-digit classification that determines your duty rate based on what the product is, what it’s made of, and where it’s from. A wrong code is one of the fastest ways to trigger additional scrutiny or owe unexpected duties later.

Have these supporting documents ready:

Commercial invoice from the seller, with item descriptions, quantities, and the price paid in US dollars.
Bill of lading or airway bill from the carrier, proving the goods are in transit and identifying the consignee.
Proof of right to make entry, such as transport documents or proof of ownership establishing that you’re authorized to claim the goods.

The declared value must reflect the actual transaction value, meaning the price you paid or agreed to pay. Customs valuation isn’t always identical to the invoice price, since certain costs like assists, royalties, or packing charges may need to be added. For most small commercial purchases and personal imports, though, the invoice price and the customs value are the same number.

How to File and Clear Your Goods

For informal entries you generally present your completed paperwork directly to a CBP officer at the port where your goods are located.² Formal-entry filers use the electronic Automated Broker Interface as a matter of course; informal filers often handle this in person at the local customs office. CBP will not notify you when your goods arrive at the port. That’s the carrier’s job. If you don’t file or pick up your merchandise within 15 days, it can be sent to a general order warehouse and you’ll start accruing storage charges.

Who can file depends on the shipment value. For goods valued between $800 and $2,500, the owner or purchaser may file, or they can designate a licensed customs broker.² For goods valued at $800 or less, the consignee can also file directly. This is one of the main advantages of informal entry: no broker required if you’re comfortable filling out the forms yourself.

Duties and fees are due when the entry is presented and accepted. If the officer examines the merchandise and determines additional duties are owed beyond what you initially paid, those must be deposited before CBP will release the goods. The officer may physically inspect your packages to verify the contents match your paperwork; inspections target prohibited items, undeclared goods, and intellectual property violations.

Fees and Payment

Informal-entry processing fees are much lower than formal ones. For fiscal year 2026, CBP charges one of three flat fees depending on how the entry is filed:¹¹

$2.69 for an automated entry not prepared by CBP personnel.
$8.06 for a manual entry not prepared by CBP personnel.
$12.09 for an entry prepared by CBP personnel, whether automated or manual.

These flat fees replace the ad valorem merchandise processing fee that formal entries pay.¹² Whether your shipment is worth $50 or $2,400, you pay the same processing fee.

On top of the processing fee you owe the applicable duty rate determined by your HTS classification. The duty rate is the same whether you file formally or informally. CBP accepts checks and money orders drawn on US banks and electronic payments through ACH and Pay.gov. Credit cards are accepted for non-commercial entry payments at some CBP locations but not all.¹³ Call your port of entry to confirm what they accept before you show up.

Recordkeeping After Clearance

Your obligations don’t end when the goods clear. Federal regulations require you to keep all records related to your informal entry for five years from the date of entry.¹⁴ That includes entry forms, commercial invoices, bills of lading, payment receipts, and any correspondence with CBP. A narrower exception applies to consignees who aren’t the owner or purchaser and who use a broker: they need to keep records for two years.

These records matter because CBP can audit informal entries after the fact. Failing to produce documentation, or failing to respond to a CBP inquiry, can result in penalties and delays on future shipments.¹⁵ Keep a folder, digital or physical, for every import you make.

Counterfeit Risk on Small Shipments

One assumption to correct: a low-value shipment does not fly under the radar. CBP is required to seize any goods it identifies as counterfeit, and a $30 package with a fake designer logo gets the same treatment as a container load.¹⁶ Seized goods go through a forfeiture process that can take more than 120 days, after which the items are typically destroyed. Intent doesn’t matter; buying branded products from an unfamiliar overseas seller at suspiciously low prices puts your shipment and your money at real risk.

When Formal Entry Makes More Sense

Informal entry works well for one-off purchases, personal effects, and small commercial shipments where the paperwork is simple and the goods aren’t heavily regulated. It has real limits. If your goods are regulated by any federal agency beyond CBP, the additional compliance steps can make informal filing more hassle than it’s worth. FDA-regulated products, for example, most commonly enter as formal consumption entries because of the data the agency requires.⁶

If you’re importing the same type of product repeatedly, a formal-entry setup with a continuous bond and a broker may be cheaper and faster over time. The flat processing-fee advantage is real but small, and hand-delivering paperwork adds up. Importers who start with informal entries and grow their volume commonly switch to formal filing through an automated system, and the transition is smoother when you’ve kept clean records from the start.

1
eCFR. 19 CFR 143.21 – Merchandise Eligible for Informal Entry
2
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 143 Subpart C – Informal Entry
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1498 – Entry Under Regulations
4
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Filing an Informal Entry for Goods That Are Less Than $2500 in Value
5
eCFR. 19 CFR 143.22 – Formal Entry May Be Required
6
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Common Entry Types
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1321 – Administrative Exemptions
8
The White House. Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries
9
eCFR. 19 CFR 143.23 – Form of Entry
10
eCFR. 19 CFR 143.25 – Contents of Entry
11
Federal Register. Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2026
12
eCFR. 19 CFR 24.23 – Customs Financial and Accounting Procedure
13
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Duty – Acceptable Payment Methods
14
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 163 – Recordkeeping
15
eCFR. 19 CFR 142.15 – Failure to File Entry Summary Timely
16
U.S. Government Accountability Office. CBP Has Taken Steps to Combat Counterfeit Goods in Small Packages