DHL customs invoice: what each line means

The invoice rarely labels which lines are which, which is the root of most confusion. Duty is the rate for your product's tariff classification applied to its declared value, plus any additional tariff program in scope. The Merchandise Processing Fee is a federal charge — for fiscal year 2026 an informal entry carries a fixed $2.69, $8.06 or $12.09 depending on how it was processed, not a percentage. Both go to the government.

Everything else belongs to DHL. The advancement or Duty Tax Paid charge covers fronting the duty. A brokerage or formal entry charge appears when the shipment needed a formal entry rather than clearing informally. Storage appears if the parcel sat past a free period, usually because a duty bill went unpaid.

One figure worth checking closely: if your parcel was low-value and the invoice shows a processing fee of $33.58, that is the formal-entry minimum and it should not normally appear on a small personal shipment. It is worth asking why the entry was filed as formal.

What to check

• 01Duty — government. Set by classification and origin.
• 02MPF — government. $2.69–$12.09 on an informal entry; 0.3464% with a $33.58 floor on a formal one.
• 03Harbor Maintenance Fee — government, but only on ocean cargo. Should be absent on an air parcel.
• 04Duty Tax Paid / advancement — DHL. Checkable against the published schedule.
• 05Storage — DHL. Usually means the shipment waited on payment.