SellersCalc

Import math

Customs VAT Calculator

Import VAT is charged on more than your goods — the taxable base includes freight and duty too.

Import VAT = (goods value + freight + duty) × VAT rate. Customs taxes the landed value, not the invoice: $5,000 of goods with $400 of freight and a 4% duty ($200) gives a $5,600 taxable base, so 20% VAT comes to $1,120 and total import charges are $1,320. Sellers who estimate VAT on the goods value alone under-budget by the VAT on freight and duty — real money on every shipment. Enter your numbers to see the VAT owed and the full amount due at customs.

Customs VAT Calculator — your numbers

Import VAT owed

$1,120.00

Total import charges

$1,320.00

Estimate only. Results reflect exactly the numbers you enter — verify against your own accounting before making pricing decisions.

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Worked examples

UK import at 20% VAT

Goods value $5,000.00
Freight + insurance $400.00
Duty rate 4%
VAT rate 20%
Import VAT owed $1,120.00
Total import charges $1,320.00

VAT of $1,120 lands on the $5,600 base — $120 more than "20% of the goods".

EU import, higher duty

Goods value $12,000.00
Freight + insurance $800.00
Duty rate 12%
VAT rate 21%
Import VAT owed $2,990.40
Total import charges $4,430.40

A 12% duty inflates the VAT base too: total border charges reach $4,430.

Frequently asked questions

Why is VAT charged on freight and duty, not just the goods?

Because import VAT is designed to tax the goods at their landed value, putting imports on equal footing with domestically produced products whose prices already embed transport. The legal taxable base in the UK and EU is customs value plus duty plus transport and insurance to the destination — so duty gets taxed, a genuine tax-on-a-tax.

Can I get import VAT back?

Usually, if you are VAT-registered in the destination country and the goods are for your business. The import VAT becomes input tax you reclaim on your VAT return, or you use postponed VAT accounting to declare and reclaim in the same filing with no cash outlay. Unregistered sellers simply absorb it as a cost.

I am a US seller — when does import VAT hit me?

The US has no VAT, so this applies when you ship inventory into the UK or EU — for local fulfillment centers or direct-to-customer parcels above the low-value thresholds. If you import in your own name you pay the VAT at the border and typically need a local VAT registration to reclaim it and charge customers correctly.

Do customs VAT and duty rates change, and where do I verify them?

VAT rates move rarely but duty rates and low-value rules change often. Verify the VAT rate on the destination tax authority’s site, the duty rate in the destination tariff database, and confirm both with your freight forwarder or broker before the shipment leaves — the calculator is an estimate, the border bill is not.

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Part of the Shipping & Landed Cost collection.