One tariff code, 1,490.28
Every duty estimate starts with a rate, and the rate is the one input the calculator cannot give you. It comes from the tariff classification of the goods — the code that says what, for customs purposes, the thing actually is.
Here is the same 22,580.00 customs value under two rates that could plausibly be argued for the same consignment.
| At 6.5% | At 12% | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customs value | 22,580.00 | 22,580.00 | — |
| Duty | 1,467.70 | 2,709.60 | 1,241.90 |
| VAT at 20% | 4,839.54 | 5,087.92 | 248.38 |
| Clearance fees | 150.00 | 150.00 | — |
| Total payable | 29,037.24 | 30,527.52 | 1,490.28 |
The duty difference is 1,241.90. The bill difference is 1,490.28, because VAT is charged on the duty as well — the extra 248.38 is 20% of the extra duty, following it through.
Why the wrong code is not a cheap mistake
An under-declaration is not a discount you keep. Authorities can reassess entries for years after clearance, and the correction arrives as arrears plus interest plus, depending on the jurisdiction and the circumstances, a penalty — on every consignment that used the code, not just the one that was checked. A classification that saves 1,241.90 a shipment and is wrong is a liability that grows with your order book.
Over-declaration is the quieter version. Nobody comes after you for paying too much, so a conservative code can sit in a customs file for years, costing 1,241.90 a time, and the only symptom is that your landed costs are worse than your competitors' for no reason you can see.
What to do with the calculator
Run it twice. Put in the rate you believe applies and the rate you are worried about, and look at the gap in total payable rather than in duty. If that gap is small relative to the shipment, the classification question is not worth a consultant. If it is the size of the number above, get a binding tariff ruling from your authority before the goods ship — it is the only way to turn the rate from an assumption into a fact.
Multiply by your shipping frequency
One shipment makes 1,490.28 look like a line item. The classification does not change between shipments, so the right unit is a year. At 12 shipments that is 17,883.36, of which 14,902.80 is duty that either is or is not genuinely owed.
That reframes the cost of getting it right. A few hundred in broker time or a ruling application is not measured against 1,490.28; it is measured against 17,883.36 and against the reassessment risk behind it. Very few importers would decline that trade if they saw it stated annually, and almost none see it stated annually.
What to hand the person classifying
The reason classification goes wrong is rarely that someone read the tariff badly. It is that they were told what the product is called rather than what it is. Whoever classifies for you needs:
- What it is made of, by proportion — material composition decides the chapter for a great many goods.
- What it does, and which function is the principal one if it does more than one thing.
- How it is presented — assembled or not, retail set or loose, with or without accessories in the same package.
- Technical specification: dimensions, capacity, power, rating. Tariff lines split on exactly these numbers.
A product name and a photograph are not enough, and a supplier's suggested code is a starting point rather than an answer — the exporter classified it under their country's rules, for their export, and the liability for your entry is yours.
Work it for your own shipment
The figures above come from the same code the calculators run, so typing these inputs in reproduces them exactly. Your own numbers are the point though — run both rates through the duty calculator and compare the totals.
These are estimates, not assessments. Duty rates, the taxable base, and the valuation rules that decide them are set by national law and by how your goods are classified. A customs broker or your national customs authority gives you the binding answer; this site gives you the arithmetic so you know roughly what is coming and which question to ask.