Can I send alcohol or tobacco to the United States?
No.
Couriers generally refuse alcohol and tobacco in personal boxes. They never qualify for the $100 gift exemption, and travelers' allowances don't apply to shipments.
For every Onvoyo box: Onvoyo and most express couriers don't carry alcohol, tobacco or vaping products in personal boxes, whatever the destination allows.
More rules for the United States
Allowed with conditions
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Never covered by the $100 gift exemption, and couriers usually refuse them. State laws also regulate alcohol.
- Goods made in Cuba or Iran
- Generally banned. OFAC allows informational materials such as books, films, and artwork, and gifts worth up to $100 of a kind normally given as gifts (from Cuba they must be sent, not carried, and can't be alcohol or tobacco). Used household and personal effects of people arriving from Iran are also allowed. Anything else needs an OFAC license.
Quantity limits
- Gifts by courier
- Bona fide gifts up to $100 per recipient per day ($200 from the US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa) are free of duty. Alcohol and tobacco never qualify.
- Alcohol (travelers only)
- Returning residents aged 21 or over can include 1 liter within the $800 allowance, and adult nonresidents get 1 liter duty-free. Does not apply to shipments.
- Tobacco (travelers only)
- Returning residents: 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars within the $800 allowance. Adult nonresidents: 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 2 kg of smoking tobacco. Does not apply to shipments.
Before you ship to the United States
- Tax-free limit
- There is no general duty-free limit anymore. The $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended for shipments from every country, by every mode, since August 29, 2025, and a 2025 law repeals it from July 1, 2027. Bona fide gifts from a person abroad to a person in the US stay free of duty when everything one person receives on one day is worth $100 or less ($200 if sent from the US Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa). Alcohol and tobacco never qualify, and a gift worth more than the limit pays duty on its full value.
- Receiver ID
- Importer number (IRS EIN, Social Security number, or CBP-assigned number) needed. CBP identifies importers by an IRS Employer Identification Number, or a Social Security number if there is no EIN, or a number CBP assigns through CBP Form 5106 when you have neither. Couriers ask for the receiver's number to file the customs entry. If the receiver has no SSN or EIN yet, tell the courier before shipping so it can arrange a CBP-assigned number.
- Transit
- 2-5 business days from Canada, Mexico, or Western Europe; 3-6 from Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere
Questions
Can I send alcohol or tobacco to the United States?
No. Couriers generally refuse alcohol and tobacco in personal boxes. They never qualify for the $100 gift exemption, and travelers' allowances don't apply to shipments.
Ask about a specific item
Official sources
- 1.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Prohibited and Restricted Items (opens in a new tab) - 2.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Shipping Plants, Food, and Other Ag Items via Express Courier (opens in a new tab) - 3.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Personal Importation (opens in a new tab) - 4.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
CSMS # 69326983 - GUIDANCE: Section 301 Forced Labor Import Duties (opens in a new tab) - 5.
Office of the Federal Register (eCFR)
19 CFR Chapter I -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security; Department of the Treasury (opens in a new tab) - 6.
Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury (eCFR)
31 CFR Chapter V -- Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury (opens in a new tab) - 7.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Federal Register, 91 FR 37789)
Indefinite Suspension of the De Minimis Exemption for Merchandise Arriving Through All Modes Other Than the International Postal Network (opens in a new tab)
General guidance, not legal advice. Customs in the United States makes the final decision on every box.