United Kingdom Import Duty & VAT Calculator

How import duty and VAT work in the UK

Since Brexit, goods arriving from anywhere outside the UK — including the EU — are treated as imports. Two charges can apply at the border: customs duty and import VAT. They build on each other, which is the key thing most importers miss. Duty is worked out first, on the customs value; then VAT is charged on the customs value plus that duty. Get the order wrong and your numbers will be off every time.

Customs value (the duty base)

UK customs duty is charged on the customs value. Under the standard valuation method (Method 1, transaction value), this is the price you pay for the goods plus the cost of transport, insurance, loading and handling to get them to the point of entry into the UK — broadly a CIF figure.

So if you bought on FOB or EXW terms, you add the international freight and insurance to reach the customs value. If you bought on CIF terms, those costs are already inside the supplier's price. Insurance and freight after the UK border don't have to be included, provided they're separately identified.

Import duty rates (the UK Global Tariff)

The duty rate depends entirely on the commodity code (the UK's version of the HS classification). Rates come from the UK Global Tariff and vary widely: a large share of goods are 0%, while clothing is often around 12%, footwear runs roughly 0%–16%, and some agricultural lines are much higher. Always look up your specific commodity code on the UK Integrated Online Tariff — and check whether a trade agreement (for example the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement) gives a 0% preferential rate, which requires valid proof of origin.

For travellers and personal imports, HMRC also offers a simplified flat rate of 2.5% duty on most goods worth £630 or less — handy, but not how commercial consignments are assessed.

One more easing: HMRC waives customs duty entirely when the total duty due on a consignment would be £9 or less. So a small amount of calculated duty may not actually be collected — this calculator shows the gross figure, so treat a sub-£9 duty line as likely waived.

Import VAT — charged on duty too

Import VAT is 20% at the standard rate, and it is not charged on the goods price alone. The VAT value is:

customs value + customs duty + any other charges payable on import (and incidental costs such as transport and handling to the goods' first destination in the UK).

This is the compounding step. Because duty is already in the VAT base, you effectively pay VAT on the duty. On a £5,000 consignment with £650 of freight and insurance and £678 of duty, import VAT is charged on £6,328 — not on £5,000.

Not everything is 20%, though. The UK zero-rates (0% VAT) several categories, including young children's clothing and footwear, books and most printed matter, and most food. A small group of goods are reduced-rated at 5%. So "20% on everything" is wrong — check your category. Note that VAT zero-rating does not remove customs duty: a child's coat can be 0% VAT but still carry duty.

The £135 low-value threshold

There are two different mechanisms around £135, and they're routinely confused.

1. Customs duty relief. Consignments with an intrinsic (goods-only) value of £135 or less are free of customs duty. The £135 is measured on the value of the goods themselves — transport, insurance and taxes are excluded unless they're baked into the price.

2. Point-of-sale VAT (since 1 January 2021). For those same £135-or-less consignments sold to UK consumers, import VAT is not charged at the border. Instead the overseas seller or online marketplace must register for UK VAT and charge supply VAT (usually 20%) at checkout. This is not relief — the VAT is still due, just collected earlier. For business-to-business sales where the buyer gives a UK VAT number, the VAT is accounted for by the buyer instead.

So a sub-£135 parcel pays no duty and no border VAT, but you've very likely already paid 20% VAT to the retailer. Above £135, the full duty and import VAT apply to the whole consignment.

Heads-up — this is changing. At Autumn Budget 2025 the government announced it will remove the £135 customs-duty relief from March 2029 at the latest (a consultation followed on 26 November 2025). Under the reform, online marketplaces and sellers would instead pay the customs duty to HMRC. The separate £39 gift relief is being kept. Treat the threshold as "verify current" before relying on it.

Other charges (no government processing fee)

Unlike the US (which charges a Merchandise Processing Fee) or Australia (an Import Processing Charge), the UK has no government import-processing fee. What you'll usually see instead is a private clearance / handling fee from your courier or customs broker — for example Royal Mail's handling fee or a courier's "advancement" or disbursement fee for paying the duty and VAT on your behalf. We treat that as an editable estimate, because it varies by carrier and isn't set by HMRC.

Incoterms: what your supplier price already includes

The Incoterm on your invoice tells you where the seller's costs stop and yours begin. Get it wrong and you'll either double-count freight or under-budget your landed cost. Here's what each common term leaves for you to add before you can work out the UK customs value, duty and VAT.

EXW (Ex Works). The price is goods only, at the supplier's premises. You add everything after that: origin handling, export clearance, foreign inland freight, international freight and insurance to the UK. EXW looks cheap because the transport cost hasn't landed yet.

FOB / FCA (Free On Board / Free Carrier). Common terms for UK importers. The supplier has cleared the goods for export and handed them over at the origin port or carrier. You add international freight and insurance to the UK — and because the UK customs value is CIF-based, those are exactly the costs you add to reach the duty base.

CFR / CPT (Cost & Freight / Carriage Paid To). The supplier has paid the international carriage, so it's already in the price. You still add insurance — these terms don't include it.

CIF / CIP (Cost, Insurance & Freight / Carriage & Insurance Paid). Freight and insurance to the UK are both in the price. That figure is essentially your UK customs value before duty — nothing further to add on the transport side.

DAP / DDP (Delivered At Place / Delivered Duty Paid). Under DDP the seller has paid UK duty and import VAT and delivered to your door, so there's nothing left to calculate — though it's worth checking they actually remitted what they charged you. Under DAP the seller delivers but you remain responsible for import duty and VAT.

The UK-specific point

For the UK, duty and import VAT both build on the CIF-style customs value — international freight and insurance to the UK border are included in the base. Then VAT is charged on that customs value plus the duty. So the same freight cost is taxed twice over in a sense: it's inside the duty base, and it's inside the VAT base, and the VAT base also contains the duty. If you're working from an FOB price, add the international freight and insurance to find the customs value; the calculator does this for you once you pick the matching Incoterm.

Worked example: £5,000 shipment of adult clothing

Numbers make the order of operations obvious. Take a real-world consignment: £5,000 of adult clothing, bought FOB, with £600 of ocean freight and £50 of insurance to get it to a UK port. Assume a 12% duty rate (a typical UK Global Tariff rate for adult garments) and the standard 20% VAT.

The trap is taxing the goods price alone. The UK doesn't. Duty is charged on the CIF-style customs value, and then VAT is charged on the customs value plus the duty. Here's how it flows:

Line item	Basis	Amount (GBP)
Goods (FOB)	supplier price	5,000
International freight (ocean)		600
Insurance		50
Customs value (CIF)	goods + freight + insurance to UK	5,650
Duty @ 12%	12% of customs value	678
Import VAT base	customs value + duty	6,328
Import VAT @ 20%	20% of the VAT base	1,265.60

Reading it down: the customs value is £5,650, not £5,000, because freight and insurance to the UK are included. Duty of £678 is charged on that. Then import VAT is charged on £6,328 — the customs value plus the duty — giving £1,265.60. That's the compounding effect: you pay 20% VAT on the £678 of duty as well as on the goods and freight.

Add it all up — goods, freight, insurance, duty and VAT:

5,000 + 600 + 50 + 678 + 1,265.60 = £7,593.60.

The duty and VAT together come to about £1,943.60 on £5,000 of goods — roughly 39% on top of the goods value. That's the number to build into your pricing, not the headline 12% duty rate. A courier or broker clearance fee, if you use one, sits on top and is private, not government-set.

Same goods, different VAT: if this were young children's clothing instead of adult, the duty would be unchanged (£678) but the VAT would be £0 — children's clothing and footwear are zero-rated. The landed cost would drop to about £6,328. The category, not just the value, drives the bill.