Duty estimate
The charge at the border is worked out from an allowance, a rate and the value declared. Enter the first two, and this tool shows the base the charge lands on and what falls out of it.
Allowances and rates are set by destination and by goods. This tool does not supply them, because a figure copied from elsewhere would describe someone else’s parcel.
Result
- Enter the allowance that applies to your destination as a number of zero or more.
- No rate was entered, so only the taxable base is shown. Rates depend on the destination and the goods, so this tool does not supply one.
- Carriers often add a handling or advancement charge on top of duty. Enter it separately if your carrier publishes one.
- The figure arrived at here is an estimate built from the numbers you typed. It is not tax advice and it is not a quote.
The base, not the bill
Most confusion about import charges comes from mixing up three things: the value declared, the amount you are allowed to import before a charge starts, and the rate applied above that line. The tool shows the middle step plainly, because the base is the part that moves when the declared value moves.
If the declared value sits at or below the allowance you enter, the base is zero and nothing is charged on the value. That is a real outcome and the tool reports it as one rather than showing a small number that looks like a charge.
The charge carriers add on top
Many carriers charge a fee for advancing duty on your behalf, and it is often a flat amount per parcel rather than a percentage. On a small parcel this can exceed the duty itself, which is why the field is separate: folding it into a rate would hide the part that hurts most on cheap shipments.
Some carriers only charge it when duty is actually due, and some charge it whenever a declaration is processed. That difference is published on carrier pages and changes over time, so it is your figure to enter rather than one this site supplies.
Why no rates are published here
Allowances and rates are set per destination and per category of goods, and they have been changing. Several destinations have tightened treatment of low-value parcels, and lines have appeared and disappeared in response. A rate published on this page would be out of date within a season and would still be copied into decisions as though it were current.
Worse, a wrong rate produces a confident number, and confident numbers get budgeted against. A blank field that forces you to look up the figure for your destination produces a better decision than a filled field that happens to be wrong.
What an estimate cannot cover
Declared value and assessed value are not always the same thing. A customs officer can assess a parcel at what the goods appear to be worth rather than what the paperwork says, and a parcel that looks undervalued invites exactly that. This tool works from the number you enter and cannot predict an assessment.
It also cannot tell you whether a particular line is likely to be inspected, whether a destination is applying a temporary measure, or what a courier will charge for storage if a parcel is held. Those are questions for the carrier and the destination’s published rules. What this page offers is the arithmetic, done correctly, on numbers you have checked.
- The declared value helper — work out what the goods themselves cost you before you fill anything in.
- Declared value, explained without the hedging — the longer treatment, including the risk side.
- The checking method — the same habit of stating what is not known, applied to link status.