Make your product

What import duty and GST will I actually pay bringing goods into India?

The short answer

Expect three layers on top of your CIF value: Basic Customs Duty (varies hugely by HS code), a 10% Social Welfare Surcharge on that duty, and IGST (commonly 18%) on the CIF-plus-duty total, which you can claim back as input credit if you're GST-registered. These numbers change with policy, so treat any specific rate as directional and verify against ICEGATE before you commit to a landed-cost number.

A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.

Here are the resources

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.

3 resources 3 India-specific 2 link-checked

Use

🛠️ Tool
✓ Link checked India Free Intermediate

Why we picked it The official government calculator, the source of truth to cross-check any third-party landed-cost tool against before you finalise pricing.

Custom Duty Calculator

From icegate.gov.in by ICEGATE (Indian Customs)

  • Authoritative, government-run duty calculation
  • Best used to cross-check other calculators
  • Part of the wider ICEGATE customs e-filing system
Open icegate.gov.in →
🛠️ Tool
✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it Estimates full landed cost including duties, taxes and the hidden charges founders typically forget to budget for on their first import.

Advanced Import Duty Calculator India

From calcwise.finance by Calcwise

  • Flags hidden charges beyond headline duty and GST
  • Free to use for a first-pass landed-cost estimate
  • Useful before finalising your product's retail price
Open calcwise.finance →
🛠️ Tool
India Freemium Intermediate

Why we picked it Combines duty and GST/IGST into a single estimate, useful as a second opinion when your DutyDecoder or ICEGATE numbers need a sanity check.

Customs Duty Calculator with GST

From seair.co.in by Seair Exim

  • Calculates duty and GST together in one pass
  • Good for cross-verifying other landed-cost tools
  • Backed by an established Indian trade-data firm
Open seair.co.in →

People also ask

What's the actual difference between COGS and landed cost, and why does mixing them up wreck my margins? COGS is the accounting line, what a unit cost you once it's sitting in inventory, ready to sell. Landed cost is the fuller number: product cost plu... Beginner 3 resources → How do I calculate my true landed cost per unit, including duty, freight and GST? Total landed cost = CIF value (product + insurance + freight) + Basic Customs Duty + Social Welfare Surcharge (10% of BCD) + IGST on the sum of all... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I set my price once I actually know my costs, what margin should I be targeting? Cost-plus is the floor, not the strategy: take your fully landed cost, add your target gross margin (most D2C brands need a high gross margin to su... Intermediate 3 resources → What free tools or calculators can I use to model landed cost before I place an order? For India specifically, run your product through DutyDecoder or the official ICEGATE customs duty calculator to get duty and IGST estimates by HS c... Beginner 3 resources → My factory quote and my actual landed cost are miles apart, what am I missing? The usual gaps: freight and insurance (often quoted separately or not at all by the factory), customs duty and IGST (which the factory has no visib... Advanced 3 resources → How do I estimate my true landed cost before I commit to an order? Landed cost is CIF value (product + insurance + freight) plus Basic Customs Duty, Social Welfare Surcharge, and IGST on top of that, not just what ... Intermediate 4 resources →

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