Landed cost — Australia
Importing Custom Apparel Into Australia: Duty and Landed Cost
Australia is the market where the rate is low but no preference applies. Pakistan sits in the part of Australia’s tariff that gets developing-country rates only where one is printed — and on knitted garments none is.
Knitted cotton garments from Pakistan pay Australia’s 5% general duty, plus 10% GST on the duty- and freight-inclusive value. Above A$1,000, a $50 or $152 processing charge applies per entry.
The short version
- Cotton T-shirts (6109.10.00), jerseys and pullovers (6110.20.00) and knitted cotton trousers (6103.42.00, 6104.62.00) carry a 5% general rate.
- Pakistan is listed as a developing country subject to DCS rates, and none of those lines carries a DCS rate — so 5% applies.
- GST is 10% of the value of the taxable importation: customs value plus duty plus transport and insurance to Australia.
- Consignments over A$1,000 need a full import declaration and pay duty, GST and an Import Processing Charge of $50 (under A$10,000) or $152 (A$10,000 and over).
- A GST-registered importer claims the import GST back, and can defer it to its monthly BAS under the Deferred GST scheme.
- Care labelling is mandatory: instructions in English or the international care symbols. Country-of-origin labelling is not mandatory on clothing.
Checked against the official sources linked below on 23 September 2026. Duty and tax law changes — we re-check before every quote rather than publishing a number and letting it go stale. Verify your own commodity code before you commit to a price: ABF Working Tariff — find your tariff classification
Why no preference applies
Australia’s tariff gives some developing countries free entry and others — Pakistan among them — a DCS rate only where one is printed on the tariff line. On knitted cotton garments no DCS rate is printed, so Pakistani goods pay the 5% general rate, the same as a country with no preference at all.
In 2025 Pakistan supplied US$39.9 million of knitted apparel to Australia: tenth among suppliers and under 1% of the market, behind China, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Source: ABF Working Tariff — Schedule 3, Chapter 61 (operative 1 July 2026)ABF Working Tariff — Schedule 1, countries and placesUN Comtrade — Australia imports of HS 61 from Pakistan, 2025
GST, and when you get it back
GST at 10% is charged on the value of the taxable importation: the customs value, plus the duty, plus the cost of transporting and insuring the goods to Australia. So you pay GST on the duty as well.
A GST-registered business importing for its own enterprise claims it back as a GST credit. If you lodge your BAS monthly, the Deferred GST scheme lets you pay it on the BAS instead of at the border — so no cash leaves at landing.
Source: ATO — GST and imported goodsATO — Deferred GST scheme
The A$1,000 line and the entry charges
At A$1,000 or less, most goods pay no duty, taxes or charges at the border. Above A$1,000 a full import declaration is required, duty and GST apply, and so does an Import Processing Charge: $50 for an electronic declaration up to A$10,000, and $152 at A$10,000 and over. A separate biosecurity cost-recovery charge also applies above A$1,000.
A 30-piece bulk order will almost always sit above the line, so budget it with all of these included.
Source: ABF — import declarationsABF — Import Processing Charge
What the label must carry
Since 5 September 2023, the Consumer Goods (Care Labelling) Information Standard requires clothing sold in Australia to carry care instructions — in English, or as the international care symbols. It does not require fibre content.
Country-of-origin labelling is not mandatory for clothing, but any “Made in” claim you do print must be true. We sew the care label to your spec.
Source: Product Safety Australia — care labelling mandatory standardFederal Register of Legislation — F2023L01187ACCC — country of origin claims
Why we quote DDP
On this route the 5% duty is permanent cost and the 10% GST is not; the processing charge is small but fixed per entry, so it weighs more on a first order than on a repeat.
That is what DDP means: freight, duty, tax and carrier fees paid before the parcel lands, each itemised on your quote. Ask every supplier you compare to itemise the same three lines — if one will not, that is your answer about which number is real.
Questions we get asked about Australia
- Does Pakistan get a preferential duty rate into Australia?
- Not on knitted garments. Pakistan gets developing-country rates only where a DCS rate is printed on the tariff line, and none is printed on 6109.10.00, 6110.20.00, 6103.42.00 or 6104.62.00 — so the 5% general rate applies.
- Is Australian GST charged on the duty as well?
- Yes. GST is 10% of the value of the taxable importation, which is the customs value plus duty plus transport and insurance to Australia. A GST-registered importer claims it back.
- Is there a value below which I pay nothing at the border?
- Yes — A$1,000. At or below it most goods pay no duty, taxes or charges at the border. A 30-piece bulk order will almost always be above it.
- Does the label need fibre content in Australia?
- Not under the Australian care labelling standard, which requires care instructions in English or the international care symbols. Country-of-origin labelling is not mandatory, but any origin claim must be true.
The other markets we ship to
Duty is set by the destination, so the same garment lands at a different cost in each of these. The overview of how the four compare is in what duty actually costs.