Tunisia customs: what you can bring

Gifts, appliances, cash, your car: Tunisian customs rules for 2026 for Tunisians living abroad, explained simply, with the official sources at the bottom of the page.

Updated October 2026 · sources at the bottom of the page

Key facts at a glance

Duty-free personal effects: 5,000 dinarsPer year and per adult, in one or several trips
Currency to declare: From 20,000 dinarsAbout €6,000; no limit on entry
To take currency back out: From 5,000 dinarsOnly if declared on entry
Car, full exemption: 5 years maxCar's age; 2 years living abroad
Moving back for good: 50,000 dinarsFurniture and household goods for a couple
Online before you leave: Rukhsti, AmtiCar, luggage and currency (QR code)

Gifts and personal effects: 5,000 dinars a year

Every Tunisian aged 18 or over living abroad can bring in 5,000 dinars of personal effects and gifts a year without paying duty: clothes, appliances, a phone, gifts for the family. The amount can be used in one go or over several trips in the year.

Anything unused does not carry over to the next year. The allowance does not cover goods for resale: several identical devices may be treated as trade. According to customs, the limit, raised in 2025, is unchanged for 2026.

Each adult has their own allowance: a couple can bring up to 10,000 dinars of personal effects.
Keep the receipts for recent devices (phone, computer, appliances): they prove their value if you are checked.

Cash: when do you have to declare it?

There is no limit on bringing foreign currency (euros, dollars…) into Tunisia. But a customs declaration is mandatory in three cases:

the amount reaches 20,000 dinars or more, about €6,000;
you plan to pay the currency into a Tunisian bank account;
you want to leave with 5,000 dinars or more in foreign currency: without a declaration on entry, you can't.

Keep the declaration, and the receipts if you exchange money at an approved bureau. Customs advises declaring from 5,000 dinars to avoid checks and make banking easier. You can also declare online: you get a QR code that is scanned at the border.

Finally, dinars cannot leave Tunisia: change any you have left before you go home.

Your car

On holiday, your foreign-registered car enters with a 3-month circulation permit issued on arrival. The car is recorded in your name: you cannot leave Tunisia without it. If the car is not in your name, bring the owner's authorisation.

You can also apply online with Rukhsti before you travel. According to customs, the wait at the port then drops to 10–15 minutes at best.

To keep the car in Tunisia (the FCR scheme), there are two options:

Full exemption: be Tunisian, an adult, have lived abroad for at least 2 years in a row and spend no more than 183 days a year in Tunisia. The car must be 5 years old at most. The benefit can be renewed every 10 years.
Partial exemption: you pay about 25–30% of the usual taxes, and the car gets ordinary Tunisian plates and can be sold freely.

Moving back to Tunisia for good

When you move back for good, the allowance mainly covers furniture and household equipment: up to 50,000 dinars for a couple. One of the spouses files the request with customs.

Save time at the port: do it online

Rukhsti: your car's circulation permit, requested online before you leave.
Amti (Amti3ati): your luggage declared in advance; print it and show it on arrival.
Online currency declaration: a QR code to show at the border.

These services are on the Tunisian administration portal (idaraty.tn) and the customs website. Do them a few days before you leave: in summer, it is what saves the most time at the port.

Your own car on the ferry, or a flight and a hire car: which trip costs less?

Run the numbers

See ferry prices to Tunisia

Rules announced by Tunisian customs in 2026. They may change: check the customs website (douane.gov.tn) before you travel.