If you've ever been surprised by a customs bill after ordering something internationally, it's because "the price of the goods" and "what you'll actually pay" are two very different numbers. The gap between them is called landed cost — and it's calculable in advance if you know what goes into it.
The four things that stack on top of the goods price
- Shipping — freight cost to get the goods to the border
- Insurance — often required or strongly recommended for higher-value shipments
- Customs duty (tariff) — a percentage-based charge set by the importing country, based on the product's classification
- Destination tax — many countries apply VAT, GST, or an equivalent import tax on top of duty (India's IGST on imports works this way)
None of these are optional line items you can round down — customs won't release a shipment until duty and tax are paid, and getting the estimate wrong is how businesses end up with unplanned costs eating their margin.
The detail almost everyone gets wrong: CIF vs FOB
This is the part that actually changes the math, not just the presentation of it. Customs duty isn't always calculated on the goods price alone:
- FOB (Free on Board) — duty is calculated only on the value of the goods themselves
- CIF (Cost + Insurance + Freight) — duty is calculated on the goods value plus shipping plus insurance combined
Most countries use CIF. That means your shipping cost isn't just an expense sitting next to the duty calculation — it's part of what duty gets calculated on, which can meaningfully increase the duty owed compared to what you'd expect from the goods price alone.
And duty often isn't the last charge either
Where a destination tax applies (like VAT or GST), it's frequently calculated on the goods value plus the duty already added — not on the original price. So the order of operations matters: value → add duty → then calculate tax on that larger number. Skipping this step is a common reason landed-cost estimates come in low.
Where to actually find your rate
None of this math matters if you don't have the right duty percentage to plug in — and that number depends entirely on your product's exact classification (HS/HTS code) and which country you're shipping to. It is not a fixed, universal number, and it changes with trade policy. The two reliable sources are your destination country's customs authority website or the WTO Tariff Database for a broader lookup across countries.
Do the math once you have your rate
The Tariff Calculator takes it from there — enter your goods value, shipping, insurance, your duty rate, and any destination tax, and choose CIF or FOB. It gives you the dutiable value, duty amount, tax, and total landed cost in one step for any pair of countries.