Online customs duty calculator (detailed)

[hydra]

New Import Duty & Taxes Calculation | DutyCalculator

This seems to be an excellent customs duty calculator. I stumbled on it when I was googling Conrad-Johnson in India.

The import duty rate for importing Conrad-Johnson amplifier into India is 10%

I did a test calculation for Audio equipment imported from USA to India, costing $1000.00, with shipping at $10 and insurance at $5. The results are as below:

Import duty & taxes calculation result

There seems to be a limit of 5 free calculations.

It looks pretty much legit, with the second link providing a link to the relevant tax rules too!

 

[Santy]

I did use it before. Though only now I realize only 5 are free.
For electronics like BD player, amplifier, TV, camera, consoles, import would be charged 28.85% duty. Spare an attempt and check this out: Customs Duty and Taxes for Importing Goods to India - Tariff Chart

 

[hydra]

^^ The calculation on my test case shows a total of 30.14% duty (total of all the assorted duties). 19,193.00 duty (total of all duties) on Rs.63,679.00.

Their breakup seems to be: Import duty rate of 10%, Landing Charges rate of 1%, Countervailing Duty rate of 12%, CESS rate of 3%, and Additional Countervailing Duty rate of 4%.

 

[gobble]

Only Indian customs charges duty on cost of goods + shipping. What is the logic or justification behind this?

Edit: Found the answer - "To make it unaffordable"

G0bble

 

[esanthosh]

For electronics like BD player, amplifier, TV, camera, consoles, import would be charged 28.85% duty

Yes! Even my Custom IEM was charged the same 28.85% recently. Heartless customs could not show mercy on even that tiny thing

 

[skdas]

How you are managing importing items into india with out penalty( for not having IEC code)? Do you all have IEC code?

Recenty I bought a DAC from France, online and have been sent through French Postal Service.Indian Customs has detained it for 2 months and are asking for penalty (for not having IEC code) plus duty tax(42%).

Can any one help me to find better way or i should forget importing items?

 

[manniraj]

How you are managing importing items into india with out penalty( for not having IEC code)? Do you all have IEC code?

Recenty I bought a DAC from France, online and have been sent through French Postal Service.Indian Customs has detained it for 2 months and are asking for penalty (for not having IEC code) plus duty tax(42%).

Can any one help me to find better way or i should forget importing items?

As far as I know the IEC code is given for commercial purposes and not individual (personal usage) purpose. How was the parcel done from France, as I believe if it is for personal usage the customs gives out the clearance either by charging the applicable duties or sometimes passes it without any. Not sure how yours got caught up because of this reason.

 

[jai1611]

I learned the hard way not to import anything above a certain size/value through India Post / EMS. Best to use FedEx or DHL, who will handle the customs clearance for you. I had earlier imported a DAC through EMS which was stuck in customs for over a month and finally I had to pay the penalty before they agreed to release it.

 

[rbalagopalan]

Come on people why do you speculate, here is the actual work sheet. It is exactly the same all of my imports have been charged with. The "Assessable value" is nothing but the Cost+Insurance+Freight (CIF). The basic duty on Electronics is only 10% adding all additional charges brings it close to 30%.

Individuals need not have Import Export Code (IEC) for Importing items for their personal use. In fact I have imported 3 times back to back with in a month. Even postal service is also ok.

All these points have been explained, discussed, debated and thrashed out in many earlier threads in this same forum. Searching this forum will give you wealth of information on this.

R. Balagopalan

 

[skdas]

Thanks ! Today again i will call to customs Mumbai to release my item!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Only Indian customs charges duty on cost of goods + shipping. What is the logic or justification behind this?

No, UK does it too.

I imagine it is to stop people billing as "Amplifier, $5.00; shipping, $20,000!"

When you buy online from UK, you get charged

1. The customs/import duty

2. The VAT --- a hefty 20%

3. An absurd amount to the courier for their kindness in collecting the duty total from you.

...And that low-cost item from America suddenly costs more than it would have if you had bought it in London.

:sad: :sad:

 

[skdas]

Rightly said !
Individuals are only allowed to import Rs 2,000 worth(Non gift) of swag duty free ! Otherwise they slap Customs Act, 1962!

 

[captrajesh]

Import duty calculator for different Countries

I was browsing and found a rather interesting site: New Import Duty & Taxes Calculation | DutyCalculator

Check out the tax structure of various countries for importing KEF LS50 speakers: The import duty rate for importing Kef ls50 hifi speakers into United States is 4.9%

In Hong Kong, there are no taxes at all!!

 

[Santy]

Thread merged.

 

[captrajesh]

Thread merged.

Good work Mod.

Since this information is quite useful, may be this thread could be made sticky too.

 

[panditji]

0% duty on loudspeakers from Japan....Even amplifiers attract 0% customs duty...please arrange for group buys from Japanese manufacturers provided you are willing to use a step down transformer...even those can be gotten from Japan duty free...

 

[Naturelover]

Seemed appropriate to ask this here though it is an old thread.
Does a DAC qualify as a computer peripheral for customs duty calculation (17%) especially for a direct import?

@panditji, isn't the import duty based on product and not the source country?
Does any other country qualify for zero or lower import duty?

0% duty on loudspeakers from Japan....Even amplifiers attract 0% customs duty...please arrange for group buys from Japanese manufacturers provided you are willing to use a step down transformer...even those can be gotten from Japan duty free...

 

[panditji]

The DAC can pass off as a computer peripheral if you give an apt description on the invoice....simply put " USB computer audio convertor " and you should pas sit off easily...

India has a free trade agreement with Japan and hence the lower duties...MY mistake as the duty from Japan on speakers and amplifiers is about 15% and will continue to drop in the next 5 years till it becomes zero....Even then a group buy can sometimes make goods cheaper than even the country where it is produced...

 

[skdas]

Please arrange for group buys of hi end DAC...... waiting for long time to happen...

 

[Fantastic]

I've just embarked on an experiment.
Postal customs claim that they need to open every package to see what is in it and end up charging meaningless amounts of duty. Looks like they don't even know what some common electronic parts are.
The last time I got a kit they charged 100% duty. I sent it back and it came back with 55% duty. That's higher than the highest possible rate. But no point sending it back again.

Now I bought another kit. I asked the seller to print the HS code ( universal customs category code ) and the CIF value. The customs charge duty based on CIF value. If you only give the price they will add any amount as shipping value ! This time the seller has put the correct price including shipping (CIF is mentioned) . It's $50.35 . Let us see what duty they will charge as all the information is correct and given on the parcel.

If they mess with it I plan to go and meet the Customs Collector with the parcel and ask him how a citizen can determine how much duty we have to pay before we order anything on the Net. Web calculators being apparently wrong ! This is Swachh Bharat (?). So I guess it should be easy to do this ?