Calculating customs duty and import VAT
Three amounts are added to the factory price, and each is calculated on a different base from the last. Enter your figures below: the calculation runs in your browser, nothing is transmitted.
Updated September 2026
The price actually paid to the factory, in euros.
To the point of entry into the Union. On FOB terms, that is your sea freight.
Attached to your product’s HS code, not to the country. To be read from the official tariff database.
- Customs valuegoods + carriage + insurance
- €11,200.00
- Customs duty4.7% of the customs value
- €526.40
- VAT basecustoms value + customs duty
- €11,726.40
- Import VAT20% of that base
- €2,345.28
Landed cost
€11,726.40
Goods, carriage and duty. VAT is not included: it is deductible.
Of which VAT, cash-neutral
€2,345.28
Reverse-charged on the VAT return: collected and deducted at the same time, with nothing advanced at customs.
Calculated in your browser — nothing is transmitted. It gives an order of magnitude and does not replace the declaration prepared by a customs representative: anti-dumping duty, specific taxes or a different classification may apply to your goods.
The mistake this calculation corrects
Most estimates done by hand apply the VAT rate to the price of the goods. The result is systematically too low.
Import VAT is calculated on the customs value increased by the customs duty. In other words, it bears on an amount that already contains a tax. The higher the duty rate, the wider the gap.
On a file of €10,000 of goods, €1,200 of freight and 4.7% duty, the difference between the two methods exceeds a hundred euros. On a product subject to anti-dumping duty, it runs into thousands.
Where to find your duty rate
We do not supply it, and that is deliberate: the rate depends on your product's tariff classification, not on its origin. Two items with the same name can fall under different headings according to their material or function, and responsibility for classification rests with the importer.
The rate is found in the European Union's tariff database, searchable online by code or by goods description. National customs administrations provide their own interfaces onto the same body of data.
Two precautions before entering a figure in the calculator:
- Check that no anti-dumping duty hits your category for Chinese origin. It is added to the ordinary rate and frequently exceeds it.
- On a flow set to repeat, apply for binding tariff information. Free of charge, it fixes the classification for three years and shelters you from retrospective challenge.
Standard VAT rates in the Union
Each state sets its own rate. The one applying to your import is that of the country of release for consumption, at the rate for the product on that country's domestic market — the standard rate in the general case, a reduced rate for the categories that qualify.
Standard rate, verified September 2026
| Country | Standard rate |
|---|---|
| France | 20% |
| Belgium | 21% |
| Luxembourg | 17% |
| Germany | 19% |
| Spain | 21% |
| Italy | 22% |
| Netherlands | 21% |
| Portugal | 23% |
| Austria | 20% |
| Ireland | 23% |
Why VAT does not belong in the landed cost
The calculator separates two amounts that are often confused. Customs duty is a final cost: it enters the landed cost and passes through to your selling price. VAT is not, for a taxable business: charged and deducted on the same return, it costs nothing in the end.
In France, since 1 January 2022, it is not even advanced to customs: it is reverse-charged on the VAT return. The operation is therefore cash-neutral for anyone recovering VAT in full.
Building VAT into a landed cost overstates that cost by roughly a fifth, and leads to selling prices set too high.
What the calculation does not tell you
It gives an order of magnitude under the ordinary regime. Three situations fall outside it:
- Anti-dumping duties, specific to a category and an origin, sometimes to a named manufacturer.
- The carbon border adjustment mechanism, which covers cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen above fifty tonnes a year, and has conditioned the entry of goods since 2026.
- Product-specific taxes — excise duties, eco-contributions, health inspection fees.
None of these three can be guessed from a price and a weight: they are read in the nomenclature, at your product's exact heading.
Frequently asked questions
- Is import VAT calculated on the price of the goods?
No, and this is the most frequent error. It is calculated on the customs value increased by the customs duty, and by incidental costs to the place of destination. The VAT base therefore already contains a tax. Applying the rate to the price of the goods alone understates the amount due.
- Which VAT rate applies to an import?
That of the country of release for consumption, at the rate applicable to the product on that country's domestic market. In France, 20% in the general case, 10%, 5.5% or 2.1% for the categories that qualify. Importing creates no specific rate.
- Should VAT be included in the landed cost?
No, for a taxable business that recovers its VAT in full. It is reverse-charged on the VAT return, entered simultaneously as output and input VAT, and therefore neutral in the end. Customs duty, by contrast, is a final cost and does belong in the landed cost.
- Where do I find the duty rate for my product?
In the European Union's tariff database, searchable by code or by goods description, and through national customs interfaces onto the same body of data. The rate depends on the product's classification, not on its origin. Check also that no anti-dumping duty targets your category for Chinese origin.
- Must freight be added before calculating duty?
Yes, otherwise the calculation is wrong from the first line. What serves as the base for duty is not the invoice amount but that amount increased by carriage and insurance to the point of entry into the Union. A FOB offer therefore leaves those two items to your account: they are added before any rate applies.
- Does this calculator transmit my figures?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser; no value entered is sent to a server, stored or measured. That is also what allows this site to operate without a cookie consent banner.
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