Shipping your belongings to Jersey, Channel Islands: customs, GST and removals

If you have lived outside Jersey for at least 12 months, belongings you have owned and kept at your old home for at least six months come in GST-free, but GST becomes due if you sell, lend or give them away within 12 months of arriving. Alcohol and tobacco are never covered. Online orders from sellers that do not charge Jersey GST at checkout pay GST on their whole value once a delivery is worth more than £60 (October 2026).

Declaring your household goods

Gov.je says you must declare all household items you bring, including any spirits, wine and tobacco. There are two routes:

• The paper form. Form JCE 185, the importer's declaration for personal and household effects, goes to Customs by email or by post to Goods Control, Customs and Immigration Service, Maritime House, St Helier JE1 1JD.
• Online. A declaration through CAESAR, the Customs system at customs.gst.gov.je.

The form asks for your removal firm, sender and recipient, your approximate arrival date, and a list of any tobacco, spirits, wine and restricted goods with what you paid and their present value. You answer four questions: whether you have lived outside the island continuously for 12 months, whether the goods have been in your possession and used for more than six months, whether they are for your family's own use, and whether you are claiming GST relief. You must sign it yourself, not through your mover, and Customs can examine the goods.

You can apply up to six months before your belongings arrive. If no Customs officer is available when you land, gov.je says to declare within three clear days.

GST relief for new residents

The rules are in GST Direction 2026/03, in force since 11 May 2026.

Relief covers household effects, bicycles and motorcycles, private cars and trailers, caravans, boats, private aircraft, household provisions, and household pets. It does not cover tobacco, e-liquid, alcohol or anything with a commercial purpose. The form also confirms that goods admitted free of customs duty under change of residence relief cannot be disposed of for at least a year.

Things bought new for the move fall outside the relief and pay 5 per cent on their full value, including packing, freight and insurance. A £2,000 sofa delivered straight to Jersey would cost £100 in GST, plus 5 per cent of its share of delivery costs.

Belongings kept for six months at a second home elsewhere can also qualify, unless stored there purely to avoid GST. If relief is refused you can appeal within a month. Customs is on 01534 448000 or [email protected], weekdays 8.30am to 5pm.

What is prohibited or restricted

Gov.je lists illegal drugs and indecent or obscene material as prohibited. These need a licence or permit:

• firearms, ammunition, accessories and other weapons;
• explosives and fireworks, and chemicals for making weapons;
• flick knives, gravity knives and CS gas sprays;
• endangered animals and goods made from them, which may need a CITES permit;
• liquid milk.

Plants. Gov.je discourages private imports of plants because pests spread easily; mail-order plants from the UK need UK plant passports, and plants from the EU generally need phytosanitary certificates. The Plant Security Team is on 01534 445808.

Food. From the UK, the other Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, gov.je restricts only liquid cow's milk and caviar. Since 16 May 2025 temporary restrictions have barred personal imports from the EU of meat products from cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, and of dairy, because of animal disease outbreaks there.

Alcohol and tobacco in a removal must be declared and pay excise duty and GST; relief does not apply.

The Jersey customs allowance

When you travel in person, gov.je sets these allowances (October 2026). Alcohol, tobacco and e-liquid allowances are for travellers aged 17 or over.

If you bring no spirits or tobacco, you can instead bring 36 litres of wine, 48 bottles (75cl) of wine, or 110 litres of beer. Go over the £390 limit and the whole value becomes taxable, not just the excess. Undeclared alcohol or tobacco over the allowance is taken from you.

Online shopping and parcels

Since 1 July 2023 the GST threshold, or de minimis, has been £60. It applies to goods for personal use from retailers that are not registered for Jersey GST. At £60 or less, no GST is due; above it, GST is charged on the whole value, and items arriving together count as one delivery. Splitting orders to stay under the limit is not allowed.

Large overseas sellers and marketplaces must register once their Jersey sales exceed, or are likely to exceed, £300,000 in a rolling 12 months. They charge GST at checkout whatever the order value, and the parcel then arrives with nothing more to pay.

For anything else, Customs or the carrier tells you a parcel is waiting. You declare and pay through CAESAR and the goods are released; tick the box if GST was already paid. UK shops cannot sell VAT-free over the counter, only when goods are shipped to a Jersey address.

Return a faulty item within three months of arrival and you can reclaim the GST in writing within a month of sending it back.

How removals to Jersey work

Gov.je notes that air freight is faster but costs more than shipping. DFDS has run the island's lifeline passenger and freight ferries, including a dedicated freight vessel, under a Government contract since 28 March 2025.

Removal firms broadly offer two services:

• Dedicated load. Your belongings travel on their own in a vehicle or container. You fix the dates and the goods are handled less, but you pay for the whole space.
• Groupage, or shared load. Your goods share space with other customers' and may wait until there is enough for a full load. It usually costs less but gives you less control over timing. Customs requires firms shipping these combined loads to hold separate Groupage Operator status.

Customs runs an Approved Household Removal Operator scheme for firms whose loads are released "at the earliest opportunity". Approved firms must still have each owner sign the Jersey declaration and must keep restricted goods separate until Customs releases them. Ask any mover whether it holds this status, whether its quote includes the Jersey Customs paperwork, storage and insurance, and whether it will give you an itemised inventory to support your form.

No official body publishes typical removal prices or transit times for Jersey, so get written quotes that state collection and delivery dates. Volume, access at each end, storage and insurance drive the price.

Timescales at a glance

Frequently asked questions