Landed Cost Calculator
Work out the total landed cost of an import and the landed cost per unit, with every component shown as a share of the total and both tax bases under your control.
We do not supply duty or tax rates. You enter the rates that apply to your shipment and the calculator does the arithmetic.
Everything runs in your browser. No figures are sent to a server.
Calculate Total Landed Cost and Cost Per Unit
Leave a field at zero if it does not apply. The duty and import tax percentages are yours to supply; the basis selectors control what they are applied to.
Both rates and both bases depend on your HS classification, origin, any trade agreement claimed, and how the destination authority assesses the entry. Confirm all four with a licensed customs broker or the destination customs authority.
Duty base, import tax, per-unit uplift and the component split — plus a one-page PDF in your inbox.
The same shipment under five basis rules
Identical inputs and rates, five assumptions about what duty and import tax are charged on. The row matching your selection is highlighted.
| Basis rule | Duty base | Duty | Tax base | Import tax | Total landed cost | Per unit |
|---|
The Landed Cost Formula, Line by Line
Landed cost is not one formula but a short chain of them. The two middle steps are where most spreadsheets go wrong, because the base is assumed rather than confirmed.
| Step | Formula | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Goods value | unit cost × quantity | Supplier price at the incoterm agreed. |
| CIF value | goods value + insurance + freight | Forwarder invoice and cargo cover. |
| Duty base | goods value, or CIF value | Destination authority valuation rules. |
| Duty payable | duty base × duty rate | From your broker or the destination authority. |
| Import tax base | goods value, CIF value, or CIF + duty | Destination authority tax rules. |
| Import tax payable | tax base × tax rate | Rate from your broker or the destination authority. |
| Other landed charges | brokerage + handling + inland + other | Broker, terminal and trucking invoices. |
| Total landed cost | goods + freight + insurance + duty + tax + other charges | The sum of every line above. |
| Landed cost per unit | total landed cost ÷ units received | Units you can sell, not units ordered. |
| Share of total | (component ÷ total landed cost) × 100 | Where the money actually goes. |
Duty Is Not Always Charged on the Goods Value
Most free calculators multiply the goods value by a duty rate and stop. That is one possible rule, not the rule, and on a freight-heavy shipment the gap is enough to move a pricing decision.
Goods value basis
Duty applies to the price of the goods alone. Freight and insurance sit outside the base, so a costly freight leg does not raise the duty bill.
CIF basis
Duty applies to cost, insurance and freight together, so every dollar of freight adds to the duty base and air freight compounds the cost.
Why incoterms matter
Your incoterm decides which costs sit inside the supplier price and which arrive as separate invoices, which changes the declared value.
Who decides
The destination customs authority does, applying its own valuation rules to your entry. Not the seller, the forwarder, or this page.
What we will not do
We will not state a duty rate, a tax rate, or a valuation basis for any lane. Those depend on HS classification, origin, trade agreements claimed, and the authority's assessment of your entry.
Get them from a licensed customs broker or the destination customs authority, then bring the numbers back here. The tool supplies the structure; the facts are yours.
Import VAT and GST Are Often Charged on Top of Duty
The second base is the one that surprises finance teams. In many places it is a wider figure that already contains the duty you just calculated.
Tax on goods only
The narrowest base. Freight, insurance and duty stay outside it, so the tax tracks the supplier price.
Tax on CIF
Freight and insurance are inside the base but duty is not. Common enough to check rather than assume.
Tax on CIF plus duty
The widest of the three. You pay tax on the duty as well, so a duty increase raises the tax bill.
Recoverability
Where a business can reclaim import tax, finance teams often hold it out of inventory cost while still budgeting the cash.
| Tax base | What sits inside it | Effect on the total | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goods value | Unit cost × quantity | Lowest tax figure of the three. | Whether freight is genuinely excluded on your entry. |
| CIF value | Goods, insurance and freight | Rises with freight cost, not with duty. | Whether declared freight matches the forwarder invoice. |
| CIF plus duty | Goods, insurance, freight and duty | Highest of the three, and duty-sensitive. | Whether duty is added before the rate is applied. |
| Recoverable tax | Depends on your registration | May not belong in inventory cost at all. | Your accounting policy and tax registration status. |
Where Your Duty and Tax Numbers Come From
The calculator is only as good as the inputs it cannot supply. Work through this before entering a percentage, and record where each answer came from.
- Classify the product.Get the HS code for the goods as they will be presented. Classification drives the rate.
- Establish country of origin.Origin is where goods were produced or substantially transformed, not always where they shipped from.
- Check trade agreement eligibility.An agreement may lower or remove duty, usually only with valid origin documentation at entry.
- Confirm the duty rate and the duty base.Ask for both. A rate without its base is half an answer and will distort the model.
- Confirm the import tax rate and its base.Ask whether duty is included in the base before the rate is applied.
- Collect the fee schedule.Brokerage, terminal handling and inland delivery are quotable in advance. Get them in writing.
- Record the source and the date.Note who told you and when. Rates and fee schedules all change.
- Re-check before repeat orders.A model built on last year's assumptions is expensive to keep trusting.
An Import Into the US, Three Ways
An ecommerce brand imports 1,200 cotton tote bags into the US at USD 4.20 per unit. The rates below came from this importer's broker for their HS code and lane. They are inputs, not rates we are stating.
Goods
1,200 units at USD 4.20 each gives a goods value of USD 5,040.00.
Freight and insurance
Sea freight USD 950.00 and cargo insurance USD 60.00 make a CIF value of USD 6,050.00.
Rates supplied
The importer's broker quoted 10% duty and 10% import tax for this classification and lane.
Destination charges
Brokerage USD 120.00, handling USD 180.00, inland USD 240.00, other USD 75.00.
| Basis rule | Duty base | Duty | Tax base | Import tax | Total landed cost | Per unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duty on goods, tax on goods | USD 5,040.00 | USD 504.00 | USD 5,040.00 | USD 504.00 | USD 7,673.00 | USD 6.3942 |
| Duty on goods, tax on CIF + duty | USD 5,040.00 | USD 504.00 | USD 6,554.00 | USD 655.40 | USD 7,824.40 | USD 6.5203 |
| Duty on CIF, tax on CIF + duty | USD 6,050.00 | USD 605.00 | USD 6,655.00 | USD 665.50 | USD 7,935.50 | USD 6.6129 |
What the spread means
Nothing changed except the assumption about what the percentages apply to. Landed cost per unit still moved from USD 6.3942 to USD 6.6129: USD 0.2188 per unit, USD 262.50 across the shipment.
At a 3× markup that is roughly USD 0.66 of retail price per unit. On a thin-margin category, an unchecked basis assumption can flip a line from healthy to loss-making.
| Component | Amount | Per unit | Share of the CIF + duty total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goods value | USD 5,040.00 | USD 4.2000 | 63.5% |
| Freight | USD 950.00 | USD 0.7917 | 12.0% |
| Insurance | USD 60.00 | USD 0.0500 | 0.8% |
| Customs duty | USD 605.00 | USD 0.5042 | 7.6% |
| Import tax | USD 665.50 | USD 0.5546 | 8.4% |
| Brokerage and clearance | USD 120.00 | USD 0.1000 | 1.5% |
| Port and terminal handling | USD 180.00 | USD 0.1500 | 2.3% |
| Inland delivery | USD 240.00 | USD 0.2000 | 3.0% |
| Other charges | USD 75.00 | USD 0.0625 | 0.9% |
| Total landed cost | USD 7,935.50 | USD 6.6129 | 100.0% |
What Each Line in the Calculator Actually Covers
Landed cost models break because a line was never collected, not because the arithmetic failed. Use this as a pre-shipment checklist.
| Component | Who invoices it | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Goods value | Supplier | Unit cost times quantity, at the price stage your incoterm covers. |
| Freight | Forwarder or carrier | Main-leg movement by sea, air or road, plus origin charges billed to you. |
| Insurance | Insurer or forwarder | Cargo cover for the movement. A small figure that can still change the duty base. |
| Customs duty | Destination customs authority | A percentage applied to a declared base. You supply the rate. |
| Import VAT, GST or sales tax | Destination tax authority | A percentage applied to its own base, which frequently includes duty. |
| Customs brokerage and clearance | Broker or forwarder | Entry filing, classification support, permits and clearance handling. |
| Port and terminal handling | Terminal or port operator | Terminal handling, documentation, lift-on or lift-off and container release. |
| Inland delivery | Trucker or 3PL | Movement from port or airport to the warehouse, including waiting time. |
| Other charges | Varies | Demurrage, storage, inspection, fumigation, labelling and bank fees. |
Four Errors That Quietly Break a Landed Cost Model
Assuming the duty base
Multiplying goods value by a rate without checking the base is the most common error, and freight-heavy lanes punish it.
Dividing by units ordered
If units arrive damaged or rejected, the sellable count is lower and the true per-unit cost is higher than the model shows.
Forgetting destination charges
Terminal handling, brokerage and inland delivery arrive as separate invoices weeks later, and are easy to leave out.
Reusing a stale rate
Rates, agreement eligibility and fee schedules all change. A model never revisited stops describing reality.
What Landed Cost Per Unit Should Change
Retail pricing
Margin calculated off the supplier price overstates profitability. Price against landed cost per unit instead.
Marketplace listings
Commission, fulfilment fees and returns stack on top of landed cost. Run the landed number first, then layer channel costs on.
Sourcing comparisons
A cheaper unit price from a distant origin can lose to a nearer supplier once freight and duty are priced in.
Incoterm negotiation
Moving the incoterm shifts which costs sit inside the supplier price. Compare landed totals, not headline unit prices.
Use This Alongside the Rest of the Import File
Landed Cost Calculator Questions
Bring the Landed Number Down, Not Just the Unit Price
Locad runs cross-border movement, clearance coordination, warehousing and last-mile delivery, so the freight, handling and inland lines stop being surprises.