Split your order to dodge the VAT? 72 hours, and you pay anyway
Published 2026-08-19
The message going around the buying groups says to split your cart into two orders two days apart. Two days is 48 hours, and thats inside the 72-hour window where customs merges the parcels back together. You can split. Just not like that.
Listen up, akhi. This message runs around every online shopping group in the country, and I get sent it about once a week:
Want to save the VAT? Parcels over $75 are taxed. Split your cart into two separate orders two days apart, thats how you dodge the tax and keep your money.
Sounds clever, right? And theres a correct idea in there, I wont lie to you. But theres also one wrong number in it, and because of that number you pay the VAT AND double shipping. Blin.
The trap: 72 hours
Listen close, this is the whole story. Two parcels from the same supplier, to the same customer, less than 72 hours apart? They count as one shipment that got split. And the tax is calculated on the combined value.
And "two days" is 48 hours. Inside the window. So you split it, you paid for two shipments, and you ended up with exactly the same VAT bill. Thats not a saving, akhi, thats a surcharge.
And if writing a different value on the parcel just crossed your mind, or marking it as a "gift": stop. I dont go there and I wont send you there. Mishka looks for the right price for you, not for ways to get you into trouble. A saving that can come back to you in an envelope is not a saving.
The real numbers
- Up to $75: fully exempt. Free and clear.
- $75 to $500: VAT at 18% only, no customs duty
- $500 to $1,000: VAT, plus customs and purchase tax depending on the product
- Over $1,000: everything. Thats where it starts to hurt
And these numbers are correct as of August 2026. Im spelling that out because this area has been moving like crazy lately. VAT went up to 18% in January 2025 after years at 17%, so any message quoting 17% is older than that. And the threshold itself was temporarily raised in early 2026 and came back down to $75 in June.
So if the message you got has been circling your group for six months, check the numbers before you build on them. Yes, mine too, if youre reading this a year from now.
One, the window. More than 72 hours between the orders. And if youre buying from two different suppliers anyway, those are simply two purchases and the window doesnt apply at all. Thats the clean route, Im with it.
Two, the arithmetic. And nobody in the group ever mentions this part. On an $80 cart the VAT is about $14. The handling fee is charged for the clearance service, meaning mainly when there is tax to collect, so it sits on the saving side too. Now go check what the second shipment costs at your supplier. More than that? One order, pay the 18%, move on. A saving that costs you money is not a saving, brother.
One more small thing worth gold: shipping and insurance listed as a separate line on the invoice do not count toward the threshold. That $80 cart of yours might be $70 for tax purposes, and theres nothing to split in the first place. Look at the invoice before you start manoeuvring.