What a parcel from outside the UK costs you in Customs Duty and VAT, to the penny.
Duty and VAT
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Enter the value of the goods to see the duty and VAT.
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Enter the value of the goods, the postage and, above £135, the duty rate for your goods: the calculator applies the rules for parcels received in Great Britain from outside the UK. It shows the Customs Duty, the VAT, when each is paid and the total, with the workings. It covers purchases and gifts between private people. It does not cover excise goods (alcohol, tobacco and vaping products), goods you bring back yourself, imports by a business, or Northern Ireland, which follows different rules.
Goods you buy from a seller outside the UK are a purchase, even if you buy them as a present for someone. A gift must be sent by a private person to a private person, be occasional (for a birthday or an anniversary, say) and not be paid for by anyone in the UK.
No Customs Duty is charged on goods worth £135 or less in total, unless they are excise goods. If you bought them, the seller should have included UK VAT in the price you paid at checkout, so nothing more should be due on delivery.
Customs Duty is charged on the price paid plus postage, packaging and insurance, at the rate the UK Trade Tariff gives for your goods’ commodity code. The rate depends on what the goods are and where they came from. Import VAT is then charged on that value plus the duty, and the delivery company collects both before handing over the parcel.
Gifts worth £39 or less pay no VAT and no duty. Above £39, VAT is due; above £135, Customs Duty as well. When one parcel holds gifts for several people, each gift can get the £39 allowance if it is individually wrapped, addressed to that person and declared separately, with its own price, on the customs declaration: work each one out separately.
Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier will send you a bill stating which fees you need to pay, and normally hold the parcel for about 3 weeks; unpaid, it goes back to the sender. Any handling fee of their own is a charge for their service, not a tax: add it if you know it.
Customs value = price of the goods + postage, packaging and insurance.
Customs Duty = customs value × tariff rate on goods worth more than £135; none at £135 or less.
VAT = (customs value + Customs Duty) × VAT rate. On a purchase of £135 or less the seller charges it at checkout; a gift of £39 or less pays none.
The calculator rounds duty and VAT to the nearest penny, halves up; the bill may differ by a penny.
Goods at 12% in the tariff, bought for £500.00 with £25.00 postage: the customs value is £525.00, Customs Duty £525.00 × 12% = £63.00 and VAT (£525.00 + £63.00) × 20% = £117.60, so £180.60 to pay before delivery. A £50.00 gift, by contrast, pays £10.00 of VAT and no duty, and a £100.00 purchase with £10.00 postage carries £22.00 of VAT, paid at checkout.
Not Customs Duty, unless the goods are alcohol, tobacco or other excise goods. VAT still applies: on a purchase the seller charges it at checkout, and on a gift worth more than £39 the delivery company collects it.
A gift worth £39 or less is free of VAT and duty. Above £39 you pay import VAT, and above £135 Customs Duty as well. Something bought online and sent to you as a present is not a gift for customs, even if it comes addressed to you.
In the UK Trade Tariff on GOV.UK: find the commodity code for your goods, then the duty for the country they came from, as the rate can differ by origin. If a parcel holds goods with different rates, do not work out each item on its own: the £135 limit applies to the whole parcel. Enter its total value and the average rate weighted by the value of the goods: £100 at 12% and £100 at 0% make 6%.
Delivery companies may add a fee of their own for dealing with customs. It pays for their service and is not a tax. The bill they send states exactly which fees you need to pay.
You can ask for a refund of VAT or Customs Duty. Use form BOR 286 if Royal Mail or Parcelforce delivered the goods, and form C285 for any other courier or freight company.
No. Northern Ireland follows different rules for goods from outside the UK and the EU, including EU duty and a handling fee on goods considered at risk of entering the EU. This calculator covers England, Scotland and Wales.
This calculator gives general information, not legal, tax, financial or accounting advice. What you pay is what the bill from Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier says: check the rate for your goods in the UK Trade Tariff.
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