India is one of the fastest-growing ecommerce destinations in the world, and one of the least forgiving to ship into. Sellers who succeed in the UK or Australia routinely stumble here, because the assumptions that work elsewhere simply don’t apply.<\/p>\n
The biggest one: there is no meaningful de minimis threshold. In most markets you can ship a low-value parcel and expect it to clear without duty. In India, commercial shipments generally attract duty and tax regardless of how little they cost.<\/p>\n
Here’s what actually happens to a US parcel entering India in 2026, what it costs, and how to price and document shipments so your customers aren’t ambushed at the door.<\/p>\n
India does not offer a general low-value exemption for commercial goods. The one narrow carve-out is for genuine person-to-person gifts valued up to roughly \u20b95,000, and even that is applied strictly \u2014 customs officers routinely reclassify commercial parcels labelled as gifts.<\/p>\n
Do not mark commercial shipments as gifts.<\/strong> It is the single most common mistake US sellers make when shipping to India, and it reliably produces seizures, penalties and unhappy customers. If you sold it, declare it as a sale.<\/p>\n Indian import charges stack in a specific order, and each layer is calculated on the running total rather than on the original item price. That compounding is why the final bill surprises people.<\/p>\nHow Indian import charges are calculated<\/h2>\n