If you don’t pay DHL import tax, your package stays in a bonded warehouse while daily storage fees pile onto the original duty bill, and after roughly six months the shipment is either returned to the sender or declared abandoned and sold at a customs auction or destroyed. DHL pursues the money aggressively because they already paid the customs charge on your behalf using their own credit line, so ignoring the invoice means stiffing DHL for cash they’ve already spent, not just skipping a government tax.1DHL. Paying Your DHL Invoice
The Bill Grows Every Day You Wait
Nonpayment doesn’t freeze the amount owed. Two separate charges start compounding almost immediately.
The first is a duty processing fee. Because DHL fronted the customs payment, they add a fee on top of the actual duties and taxes: $17.50 or 2% of the duties and taxes, whichever is higher, for recipients without a DHL account.2DHL. Customs Services – DHL Express On a $500 duty charge the fee is $17.50; on a $2,000 charge it’s $40.
The second is storage. DHL gives three working days after the package arrives or after customs broker notification, whichever is later, before storage fees begin. After that, the charge is $30.00 per shipment plus $0.08 per kilogram, per day.3DHL. DHL Express Service and Rate Guide 2026 A five-kilogram package sitting two weeks past the grace period runs up around $330 in storage alone. For most consumer shipments, that number surpasses the value of the goods inside long before any further action is taken.
Transfer to a General Order Warehouse
If the shipment lingers 20 calendar days and DHL still can’t reach you for the clearance information they need, they move it to a general order warehouse. A separate set of storage charges from that facility then applies, and those costs are typically higher and less predictable.4DHL. Customs Services
This is also when the federal interest clock starts. Customs regulations provide that delinquent duty payments accrue interest in 30-day periods at a rate set by the Treasury Secretary.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1505 – Payment of Duties and Fees The package itself remains under joint custody of DHL and customs authorities throughout.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1555 – Bonded Warehouses
Return to Sender, and Why a Refund Is Unlikely
When the holding period ends without payment, DHL will typically try to return the shipment to clear warehouse space. DHL coordinates with the original shipper on who covers return freight. If the shipper refuses, the package can simply remain in the warehouse accumulating charges until customs takes over.
Recovering your money from the seller at that point is difficult. Most international sale contracts place the duty obligation on the buyer. Common trade terms like EXW (Ex Works), FOB (Free On Board), and DAP (Delivered At Place) all shift responsibility for import taxes to the recipient at some point in the shipping chain. Sellers routinely deduct return shipping and any non-recoverable duties from any refund they issue, if they issue one at all.
Any duty refund from U.S. Customs goes to whoever was listed as the duty payer in CBP’s system, which is often DHL or a customs broker rather than you. The shipper would have to coordinate with DHL to identify the importer of record and work through DHL’s process for passing refunded duties back. That rarely moves smoothly for consumer shipments.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1484 – Entry of Merchandise
Abandonment, Auction, or Destruction After Six Months
If nobody resolves the charges, the package eventually becomes government property. Merchandise sitting in customs custody for six months without duties being paid is legally classified as unclaimed and abandoned.8eCFR. 19 CFR 127.11 – Unclaimed Merchandise DHL doesn’t necessarily have to wait the full six months. When storage costs exceed the shipment’s estimated value, they can push for earlier disposition.
Once goods are declared abandoned, customs can sell them at public auction. Sale proceeds are applied in this order: internal revenue taxes first, then advertising and sale expenses, then storage and labor costs, and finally the unpaid duties. Anything left over, which is uncommon for consumer packages, can be claimed by the original owner within three years of the sale.9eCFR. 19 CFR Part 127 – General Order, Unclaimed, and Abandoned Merchandise Title to the goods themselves passes permanently to the government.
If the item won’t fetch enough at auction to cover the accumulated charges, it’s typically destroyed instead. Customs won’t release goods into commerce without duties paid, so destruction is the default when a sale isn’t economically viable. At that stage no delivery is possible, no insurance claim is viable, and you’re out both the merchandise and whatever you already paid the seller.
Paying or Disputing Before It Escalates
Because every day adds cost, the practical response to a legitimate DHL duty bill is to settle it quickly, then argue about the amount if you have grounds. Non-account holders can pay directly through the link in DHL’s On Demand Delivery email or SMS using a credit or debit card.10DHL. Pay Customs Duties Online with On Demand Delivery Account holders can pay through DHL MyBill at mybill.dhl.com, and phone payment is available at 1-800-722-0081, option 2.1DHL. Paying Your DHL Invoice
If you believe the assessment is wrong because goods were misclassified, the declared value was inflated, or the country of origin was recorded incorrectly, DHL’s primary dispute channel is the MyBill portal. You can also email billing.help@dhl.com to open a case. Keep your commercial invoice, purchase receipt, and any product classification documentation ready. Where the problem is a customs misclassification rather than a DHL billing error, correction requires a Post-Entry Amendment filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which carries its own fee and timeline and is generally worth pursuing only when the duty difference is substantial.
Confirm the Bill Is Actually from DHL
Before you pay anything, verify the sender. Fraudsters routinely impersonate DHL with fake duty demands. Legitimate DHL emails come from @dhl.com, @express.dhl.com, or @dpdhl.com, never from free email providers, and links in genuine DHL messages point to dhl.com domains rather than shortened URLs.11DHL. Fraud Awareness When in doubt, go directly to the DHL website and enter your tracking number rather than clicking a link in any message. Ignoring a scam costs you nothing; ignoring a real DHL invoice starts the meter running.