Calculate import duty and taxes with Duty Calculator

Do you import items and want to work out what the VAT and Duty will cost? A friend pointed me to a useful site today which will calculate the costs for you. Duty Calculator will figure out the tax due when importing an item based on the costs and the country you’re purchasing from.

If you’re buying from an eBay site you can simply enter the eBay item number to get the tax calculated for you.

There’s a free option which allows you to perform up to 10 import duty calculations per month with paid plans available if you import on a regular basis.

Next time you’re making a purchase from overseas Duty Calculator is a great site to find out how much tax you’ll have to pay and to make sure the tax man doesn’t spring any nasty surprises when the item is delivered.

15 Responses on "Calculate import duty and taxes with Duty Calculator"

1. 1
   Warren says:

   July 2, 2011 at 5:32 pm

   I’ve imported before, and Parcelforce gave me a import Tax bill. This website will come in handy.
   • 1.1
     Chris Dawson says:

     July 2, 2011 at 5:37 pm

     The only thing you need to remember is that Parcelforce add a charge (£8 if I remember correctly)
     • 1.1.1
       liz says:

       July 4, 2011 at 9:57 am

       £13.50 if it is a 24hr parcel.
2. 2
   northumbrian says:

   July 2, 2011 at 6:36 pm

   tax on an import is one thing but when the buggers charge for a buyer returning an item its a bit annoying
   even moreso when they treat dollars as pounds and the sender has marked the item as twice what they paid for insurance
   • 2.1
     ebuyerfb says:

     July 3, 2011 at 5:58 am

     Is there no way to appeal something like that? I know in the US our customs forms have “Return” as one of the options along with “Gift” and “Merchandise”. I was always under the impression that duty wasn’t charged on returns.
     • 2.1.1
       northumbrian says:

       July 3, 2011 at 7:17 am

       yes you can appeal and you can get the vat back in any case
       but its the fact its often held up in the mail center and the customer often thinks you being awkward
       • 2.1.1.1
         northumbrian says:

         July 3, 2011 at 7:23 am

         because their tracking says its delivered
         and its sitting in a shed in edinburgh awaiting payment
     • 2.1.2
       Old Hand says:

       July 4, 2011 at 2:21 am

       One thing you can’t get back from HMRC is the handling charge imposed by the carrier. The carrier can only charge for handling if a customs charge is made so clearly the carrier has an incentive to charge duty and/or tax where non is applicable. The handling charge is a good profit centre for them and they definitely play it to their advantage.

       The carrier pays the tax and duty to HMRC ‘on your behalf’ which to my mind means they have a duty of care to ensure payments made are correct. Fedex and DHL who deliver first then send a bill a week or so later can do little but threaten if you don’t pay illegitimate charges, They always say take it up with HMRC but they caused the problem so they can deal with it. Remember these carriers are the customs brokers, they decide what charges to impose not HMRC.

       Parcelforce, Royal Mail, USPS bill first so you have to pay but they are more honest to start with.
3. 3
   Old Hand says:

   July 3, 2011 at 3:42 am

   I import quite a lot, mostly english antiques, so no duty and VAT at 5%. Royal Mail and Parcelforce usually get it right, the others not so often. The handling fee is £8 for regular services but more, I think £14.50, for express services.

   Avoid Fedex like the plague, they always charge maximum whatever, add duty and VAT at maximum rate even when all the paperwork is correct. Their handling fees I recall are slightly more too. Fedex also charge 5% for insurance against loss only on many items, that’s 5% of the value of the goods not the shipping charge. So you can easily end up paying more in insurance just for them to do what they have contracted to do, or you think you have contracted to do unless you have read volumes of small print.

   Same exporting via Fedex, my customers in states in the USA where there is zero taxes/duties on antiques still have been charged by Fedex. When one of my customers found out and queried a year old charge Fedex said they couldn’t so anything about it because the transaction had been deleted from their computer! Dealing with complaints with them is like any call centre/email correspondence, wasting time with irrelevances and repeats on purpose hoping you’ll give up. Airsure is a better service and insurable up to £500, just have to work around the 2Kg weight limit if it’s possible. Instead of Fedex think Defex, one of the ugly faces of corporatism.

   So again, like sending I find receiving is best by Royal Mail despite what the management has done to the business the workers still try to and mostly succeed in providing great service.
   • 3.1
     northumbrian says:

     July 3, 2011 at 7:19 am

     too chuffin right avoid fedex at all costs
     even thru third party agents sush as parcel2go
     not only do they over apply the rules on customs
     if your a gram or a mm out on your package your surcharged
     • 3.1.1
       northumbrian says:

       July 3, 2011 at 9:06 am

       some time ago we sent a package via fedex via parcel2go
       fedex surcharged as they claimed it was larger than we stated,
       parcel2go asked for payment, ok we say show us the evidence and we will pay up. we think we were right,
       we cant say parcel2go though fedex charged us so were charging you,
       no evidence ,no documentation ,nothing, just FEDEX say so,
       needless to say that £20 charge has cost parcel2go any future business
4. 4
   isleman says:

   July 3, 2011 at 12:53 pm

   Hi,I always use DHL for importing from China.No probs,except through customs.

   Insist on an EORI No,otherwise no probs.
5. 5
   cal says:

   July 4, 2011 at 9:46 pm

   Sorry for being a bit thick but i import sometimes and try and keep within the limit for charges

   But if i wanted to import more from say dealextreme (china) how do you know/select which carrier you might get.
6. 6
   Gerry007 says:

   July 5, 2011 at 10:39 pm

   One little tip, I have found is ask the supplier (in the country of origin) to arrange the shipping & then pay them.

   On several occasions we have found the Chinese branch of say DHL, charge alot less than arranging it via the UK DHL.
7. 7
   andre says:

   July 7, 2011 at 10:30 pm

   Thanks for mentioning our site. We also have a service especially for eBay items, where you just have to enter the eBay item ID to get an estimate of import duties and taxes: http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-cost-calculation-for-ebay-item/