Import Landed Cost Calculator
From the supplier’s price to what each unit really costs you, duty and all.
Landed cost per item
Customs duty for the shipment
How this was calculated
Tax rules and rates change. This calculator follows the rules described on this page and may not cover every situation. Check the official source or a qualified tax professional before filing or invoicing.
About the Import Landed Cost Calculator
The landed cost is what an imported product really costs once it is in your warehouse: the supplier’s price plus freight, insurance, customs duty, clearing and delivery. Enter the invoice — on EXW, FOB, CFR or CIF terms — the exchange rate, the freight and insurance, and each item’s duty and tax rates, and the calculator gives the landed cost of every item and per unit, with the shipment’s costs spread by value, weight or quantity.
In India mode it builds the assessable value the way customs does — the transaction value plus freight and insurance, with the rule 10(2) defaults of 20% and 1.125% of FOB when the real amounts are not known — then adds Basic Customs Duty, the Social Welfare Surcharge (10% of BCD) and IGST on the value plus duties, and shows the IGST separately, since a GST-registered importer can claim it as input tax credit. General mode works for any country: duty on a CIF or FOB customs value, plus import VAT or GST.
How to use it
- Choose India or General, and the price terms on the supplier’s invoice: EXW, FOB, CFR or CIF.
- Enter the invoice currency and the exchange rate. For an Indian bill of entry, use the customs exchange rate CBIC notifies for imports, in force on the date the bill of entry is filed.
- Add each item: quantity, unit price, weight per unit (to spread costs by weight) and its duty and tax rates — in India mode the BCD and IGST rates of its tariff item.
- Enter the freight and insurance (in India mode, leave them empty to use the rule 10(2) defaults) and the costs after arrival — clearing and broker fees, port charges and inland freight — without recoverable GST.
- Choose how to spread the shipment’s costs (by value, weight or quantity) and whether the IGST or VAT can be claimed back. Read the landed cost per unit, and download the CSV for your costing.
Examples
Assessable value ₹7,12,671.88 (insurance 1.125% of FOB added) BCD ₹85,520.63 · SWS ₹8,552.06 · IGST ₹1,45,214.02 · payable ₹2,39,287
Landed cost ₹1,321.71 a unit of the first item and ₹180.89 of the second IGST claimed back as input tax credit
The assessable value counts $1,500 of freight (20% of FOB, rule 10(2)); the landed cost counts the $2,000 paid
Duty 500 · VAT 20% × 10,500 = 2,100 · landed cost 12,600
How customs values an import in India
Under section 14 of the Customs Act the value is the transaction value — the price paid for the goods — converted at the exchange rate in force on the date the bill of entry is presented, as CBIC notifies it. Rule 10(2) of the Customs Valuation Rules adds the cost of transport, loading, unloading and handling up to the place of importation, and of insurance. When those costs are not known, the rule sets them:
- Freight: 20% of the FOB value (20% of FOB + insurance when only that sum is known).
- Insurance: 1.125% of the FOB value — of FOB + freight for a CFR price.
- By air, the freight counted may not be more than 20% of FOB, even when it is known.
BCD, Social Welfare Surcharge and IGST
- Basic Customs Duty (BCD) = assessable value × the BCD rate of the tariff item, after any exemption notification.
- Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS) = 10% of BCD and other customs duties, under section 110 of the Finance Act, 2018. It is not charged on IGST (Notification 13/2018-Customs); some goods are exempt from it or pay 3% (11/2018-Customs and 12/2018-Customs), and anti-dumping or safeguard duty is outside its base.
- IGST = (assessable value + BCD + SWS + any other customs duty or cess) × the IGST rate — section 3(7) and (8) of the Customs Tariff Act, at most 40%.
On ₹1,00,000 at 10% BCD and 18% IGST: BCD ₹10,000, SWS ₹1,000, IGST 18% × ₹1,11,000 = ₹19,980. Customs rounds the duty payable to the nearest rupee (section 154A). A GST-registered importer using the goods for business can claim the IGST as input tax credit, so it is paid at clearance but is not a cost; untick the box if you cannot claim it.
Spreading the costs over the items
Duty is worked out item by item on each item’s assessable value, with the shipment’s freight and insurance spread over the items by invoice value. For the landed cost, the shipment’s own costs — freight, insurance, origin charges, clearing, port charges and inland freight — can be spread by value (the same way as the duty), by weight (heavy, cheap items carry more of the freight) or by quantity. The total landed cost stays the same; only the split between the items changes.
Other countries
General mode assumes nothing: enter the freight and insurance from your quotes, the duty rate and the import VAT or GST rate. Choose whether duty is charged on the CIF value — in the European Union, for example, the customs value includes transport and insurance up to the border (Union Customs Code, Article 71) — or on the FOB value, as in the United States, where the transaction value leaves out international freight and insurance (19 CFR 152.103). For a CIF or CFR price on an FOB valuation, enter the freight and insurance included in the price so they can be taken out.
Limitations
- Duty and tax rates are what you enter: look them up for the item’s tariff code (the HSN code finder helps with the code), including any exemption, preferential (free-trade agreement) or anti-dumping notification.
- Additions to the price other than freight and insurance — commissions, royalties, packing, tools the buyer supplied (rule 10(1)) — are not added for you; include them in the unit price.
- Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, health cess and similar levies go in as one cess rate; check whether SWS applies to them for your goods.
- Demurrage, detention, storage, bank charges and financing costs are not included unless you add them under other costs.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate landed cost?
Add everything it costs to get the goods into your warehouse — the supplier’s price, freight, insurance, customs duty, clearing, port charges and inland transport — and divide by the number of units. Leave out GST or VAT you can claim back.
How is customs duty calculated in India?
Customs takes the assessable value (the CIF value in rupees), charges Basic Customs Duty at the item’s rate, adds the Social Welfare Surcharge at 10% of BCD, and then charges IGST on the value plus those duties. On ₹1,00,000 at 10% BCD and 18% IGST that is ₹10,000 + ₹1,000 + ₹19,980.
What if I do not know the freight or insurance?
Rule 10(2) of the Customs Valuation Rules sets them at 20% and 1.125% of the FOB value. Leave the boxes empty in India mode and the calculator uses those figures for the duty — and, lacking better ones, in the landed cost.
Is IGST on imports a cost?
Not for a GST-registered business that uses the goods to make taxable supplies: it is paid at clearance and claimed back as input tax credit. It is a cost if you cannot claim it — untick the box and it is added to the landed cost.
Which exchange rate should I use?
For the duty, the customs exchange rate CBIC notifies for imports, in force on the date the bill of entry is filed. For your own costing you may prefer the rate your bank actually charged.