5% customs duty and 5% import VAT on landed cost.
Total landed cost
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Customs duty (5%)
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Import VAT (5%)
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Two charges stacked on the same shipment
When goods cross into the UAE, two separate levies land on them and they compound in a specific order. First comes customs duty, charged on the CIF value, which is your cost of the goods plus the insurance plus the freight to get them here. Then import VAT is charged, and the crucial detail people miss is that VAT applies to the CIF value plus the duty, not to the bare goods price. So the tax base for VAT is slightly larger than what you paid the supplier. This calculator applies the GCC common external tariff of 5 percent for the duty, then the 5 percent standard VAT on top of CIF plus duty. Both figures are the rates this tool models, and you should confirm the current duty rate for your specific tariff code with the Federal Customs Authority and the VAT treatment with the UAE Federal Tax Authority before you commit to a purchase.
Where the 5 percent does not apply
The 5 percent duty is the standard GCC tariff, but it is far from universal. A long list of essential goods, including many food staples, pharmaceuticals, and certain raw materials, is duty exempt at zero percent. At the other extreme, tobacco and alcohol carry much steeper rates, often 50 percent or 100 percent, and these also attract excise tax that this tool does not model. There is also the question of origin: goods manufactured within the GCC and moving between member states generally move duty free. The number that decides your rate is the Harmonised System code for your product, so the safe move before ordering a container is to look up that code and verify the rate rather than assume the flat 5 percent.
What 5 percent adds to a AED 50,000 shipment
Take a consignment with a CIF value of AED 50,000, so AED 50,000 covers the goods, the marine insurance, and the freight combined. The duty is 5 percent of that. VAT then applies to the CIF plus the duty, which is why it comes to slightly more than 5 percent of the original 50,000.
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So AED 50,000 of goods costs AED 55,125 to land, with AED 5,125 of that being the two charges combined. The chart breaks the landed cost into its three parts using the rates this calculator applies.
Reclaiming the VAT if you are registered
This is the part that changes the whole picture for a business. If you are VAT registered in the UAE and importing goods for taxable business use, the import VAT is generally recoverable as input tax on your return, so it becomes a cash-flow timing item rather than a true cost. The customs duty, by contrast, is not recoverable. It is a permanent cost that sits in your landed price. A frequent and expensive mistake is to price a product as if the 5 percent VAT were a sunk cost when it is reclaimable, which makes your margin look thinner than it is. For a private individual importing for personal use, neither charge comes back, so the full AED 5,125 in the example above is real. This tool is built for importers, online sellers sourcing stock, and anyone working out the true cost of bringing goods into the country before they order.
Is the duty charged on the shipping cost too?
Yes. The UAE uses the CIF basis, which deliberately includes the cost of insurance and freight in the value that duty is charged on. A supplier price of AED 45,000 with AED 5,000 of freight and insurance gives a CIF value of AED 50,000, and the 5 percent duty applies to the full 50,000, not just the goods. Quoting only the ex-works price will understate your duty.
Do I pay duty on a personal parcel or gift from abroad?
Low-value personal shipments below a small threshold are often cleared without duty, but the threshold is modest and couriers will bill you the duty and VAT plus a clearance handling fee once a parcel exceeds it. The exemption level and treatment can change, so check the current de minimis with the Federal Customs Authority rather than assume a gift always arrives free.