Singapore Import Duty & GST Calculator

How import duty and GST work in Singapore

Singapore is a free port, which changes the usual picture. For the vast majority of goods there is no customs duty — the only import charge is GST.

Customs duty — only four categories

Customs (excise) duty applies to just four classes of goods: intoxicating liquor, tobacco products, motor vehicles, and petroleum products. For these, the duty is usually a specific amount (per litre, per stick, per unit), not a simple percentage. Everything else — electronics, clothing, machinery, most consumer goods — is duty-free.

GST on the CIF value

GST is 9%, charged on the CIF value plus any customs duty. For the duty-free majority that simplifies to 9% of the CIF value (goods + transport + insurance to Singapore). For dutiable goods, the duty is added first and GST is charged on the total.

The S$400 low-value threshold and OVR

Goods imported by air or post with a CIF value of S$400 or less are not charged GST at the border — unless they're dutiable goods. But since 1 January 2023, GST-registered overseas vendors must charge 9% GST at checkout on such low-value goods sold to consumers (the Overseas Vendor Registration regime). So you typically pay the GST at the point of sale instead. Above S$400, GST applies to the entire CIF value at import.

Other charges

There's no broad government processing fee beyond a small customs permit fee per declaration. Freight forwarder and broker charges are private and vary — entered here as an estimate.

Incoterms: what your supplier price already includes

The Incoterm decides what's already inside the supplier's price, and therefore what you add to reach the CIF value that GST is charged on.

EXW (Ex Works). Goods only — add origin handling, export clearance, foreign inland freight, international freight and insurance to Singapore.

FOB / FCA. The supplier has cleared and loaded the goods at origin; you add international freight and insurance to reach the CIF value.

CFR / CPT. International carriage is in the price; you still add insurance.

CIF / CIP. Freight and insurance to Singapore are both included — that figure is your CIF value, and 9% GST applies to it directly (for non-dutiable goods).

DAP / DDP. Under DDP the seller has handled GST and any duty. Under DAP they deliver but you account for the GST.

The Singapore-specific point

Because Singapore is a free port, for most goods there's no duty to layer in — GST is simply 9% of the CIF value. So the main thing the Incoterm decides is how much freight and insurance sits inside your CIF value. Pick the term that matches your invoice and the calculator gets the base right.

Worked example: S$5,000 shipment of (non-dutiable) goods

Take a consignment of S$5,000 of general goods — electronics, say — bought FOB, with S$600 of freight and S$50 of insurance. As non-dutiable goods in a free port, the duty is 0%, and only the 9% GST applies.

Line item	Basis	Amount (SGD)
Goods (FOB)	supplier price	5,000
International freight		600
Insurance		50
CIF value	goods + freight + insurance	5,650
Customs duty	free port (non-dutiable)	0
GST @ 9%	9% of CIF + duty	508.50

Reading it down: there's no duty, so the GST base is just the CIF value of S$5,650, and GST at 9% is S$508.50.

Add it all up:

5,000 + 600 + 50 + 0 + 508.50 = S$6,158.50.

The only government charge is S$508.50 of GST — about 10% on top of the goods value (once freight and insurance are in the base). That simplicity is the point of a free port. If your goods are liquor, tobacco, a vehicle or petroleum, a specific excise duty is added first and GST is charged on the larger total.