How to use

Importcalculator.com provides an easy way of visualising the various costs related to importing goods from countries outside the European Union to Euro-zone member states. The calculator utilizes the same formula as most EU-customs services use and provides an overview of the minimum added costs one can expect during the import of foreign products.

Currently, the duty tax calculator supports the currencies from the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Morocco, India and Norway. The United Kingom is also included to help converting between Euros and Pound Sterlings. Goods that are imported from UK to another European member state are always exempt from any form of taxes or duties. Please note that the calculator does not guarantee the correctness of the outcome in any way. Use it merely as a tool to gain insights, never to decide whether to make a purchase or not.

Reliability of the calculator

The total amount of import duties and other related costs you have to pay after the delivery of your ordered goods is often (slightly) higher than the amount the calculator indicated. The cause of this discrepancy stems from a number of small number of uncertainties in the variables of the calculator.

For example, the package delivery company could charge you an additional fee for an oversized package. Another cost factor could be special tariffs imposed on certain (protected) goods. Finally, small discrepancies arise from differences in currency exchange rates used by the calculator and the Customs services.

Because of these small discrepancies the results of the duty tax calculator may only be used as an indication of the minimum added extra costs you can expect when importing goods. You should always verify the result of the calculation by manually calculating the outcome and looking up the correct tariff in the TARIC database.

Order amount

Goods with a total value up to €22,- are exempt of duty tax and value added tax (VAT). Goods with a total value between €22,- and €150,- are exempt of duty tax but not of value added tax. Any order with a total value equal or higher than €150,- is charged with duty tax and VAT. Customs clearances fees are usually waived if the total value of the imported goods is equal or below €22,-.

Duty tax

The default customs duty tax percentage is set at 4,2%, which is the tariff for optical and astronomical equipment (which is the primary interest of the author of this calculator). It is very likely this percentage isn't correct for the product you're importing, so it is essential to look up the correct TARIC commodity code in the TARIC database. TARIC stands for Integrated Tariff of the European Communities and is a large harmonised database containing the common customs tariffs that apply to all countries of the European Union. The current TARIC tariffs can be consulted at http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp.

Please note: the duty tax percentages can vary greatly. It is essential to ensure you are using the correct percentage by consulting the TARIC database.

Customs clearance fees

Goods that are about to be imported need to be cleared by the Customs. The Customs clearance fee is often added on top of the duty and value added taxes. Usually this fee is a fixed fee in the range of 10-15 euros, but this can vary depending on your location in the EU. Sometimes the you're charged with additional costs for receiving an oversized package or a fee for the temporary storage of your items at the customs. These extra fees are not common, however.

Changing the values

The calculator is optimized for calculating the additional costs of importing goods from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Morocco, Norway, Turkey, India, Russia and the United States (USA). However, in principle it supports all currencies from any country. The currency exchange rate value can be changed at will.

Exchange rate

The current exchange rates for the duty tax calculator are retrieved daily from http://themoneyconverter.com.