Guides for Importers and Freight Forwarders
Plain-English guides to the numbers behind every import: customs value, duty, VAT, landed cost and how to quote them clearly.
The interactive calculator needs JavaScript. Enter your product price, quantity, freight, insurance, duty rate and destination country, and it shows the landed cost, duty, VAT and selling price.
Guides
- How UK import duty is calculated – Customs value, duty, import VAT and postponed VAT accounting, with a worked example.
- CIF vs FOB: which value is duty charged on? – Why the UK and EU include freight in the customs value while the US and Canada do not.
- What to include in a freight quote – A checklist for clear, profitable freight and import quotations.
Free tools
- UK import duty calculator – Live UK Trade Tariff rates for your commodity code and origin.
- US import duty calculator – Live HTS duty plus MPF and HMF fees.
- Canada import duty calculator – Customs Tariff duty, surtaxes and 5% GST.
- HS code lookup – Find your 10-digit UK commodity code by description.
- Free landed cost calculator – Landed cost and selling price for up to three items.
- Freight quotation template – A free Excel template for professional quotes.
Put the numbers to work
OCTA Cost turns duty, VAT and freight into a branded quotation with your margin on every line.