Landed-cost taxes on imports: duty, VAT, IDF and RDL.
Total import taxes
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Import duty
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VAT (16%)
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IDF (2.5%)
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RDL (2%)
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Why the price on the invoice is never the price at the port
Anyone who has imported a container into Mombasa learns the hard lesson quickly: the supplier's invoice is only the beginning. By the time goods clear customs, a stack of charges has piled on top. Kenya levies four main taxes at the border, and they do not all bite on the same base, which is what trips up first-time importers building a budget. This tool computes them off the CIF customs value, the figure that bundles the cost of the goods, the insurance and the freight to bring them here. Get the CIF right and the rest is arithmetic. Get it wrong, by forgetting freight for instance, and every downstream tax is understated. The calculator returns the duty, the VAT, the import declaration fee and the railway development levy, then totals them into the tax you must find before the goods are released.
Four charges, three different bases
The order of calculation matters because the bases differ. Import duty comes first, charged on the CIF value at a rate set by the EAC Common External Tariff, which sorts goods into broad bands. Raw materials and capital goods often sit at the bottom, intermediate goods in the middle, and finished consumer goods at the top. VAT is then charged not on the bare CIF value but on the CIF value plus the duty, so duty effectively gets taxed again, which is why high-duty goods carry a disproportionately heavy total. The import declaration fee and the railway development levy, by contrast, are both flat percentages of the plain CIF value, untouched by the duty. Understanding which charge stacks on which base is the difference between a budget that holds and a nasty surprise at clearance.
A KES 1 million consignment at 25 percent duty
Work a CIF value of KES 1 million with a 25 percent duty rate, a common band for finished goods. Using the rates this calculator applies, here is the full landed-tax build-up.
| Charge | Base and rate | Amount |
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The taxes add KES 495,000 to a KES 1 million consignment, very nearly half again on top of the goods. Duty and VAT do almost all of the damage, and notice that the VAT of KES 200,000 is 16 percent of KES 1.25 million, not of the bare KES 1 million, because the duty is folded into the VAT base. The chart splits the KES 495,000 of total tax into its four parts so you can see where the weight sits.
Two practical notes for traders. First, if you are VAT-registered, the import VAT is generally recoverable as input tax against the VAT you charge customers, so for a registered business it is a cash-flow cost at the port rather than a permanent one, while the duty, the IDF and the levy stick. Second, the duty rate is the variable that swings the total most, and goods are classified by their tariff code, so getting the HS classification right with your clearing agent can be the difference between the 25 percent band and a lower one. Certain goods, such as some excisable products, also attract excise duty on top, which this tool does not model. Every rate here is the figure this calculator applies under the current tariff and Finance Act position; the EAC tariff and these levies are revised periodically, so confirm the live rates and your product's classification with the KRA and the customs schedule before committing to a shipment.
Can I claim back the VAT I pay at importation?
If you are registered for VAT and the goods are for taxable business use, the import VAT is normally claimable as input tax, so it nets off against output VAT in your return. An unregistered importer or a private individual cannot reclaim it, so for them the VAT is a real and final cost. The duty, IDF and railway levy are not recoverable either way.
How do I know which duty band my goods fall into?
Goods are classified under a tariff code in the EAC Common External Tariff, which assigns the rate. Raw materials and capital equipment tend to attract lower rates, finished consumer goods the higher bands, with a sensitive-items list reaching the top rate. Your clearing agent looks up the code, but confirm it against the KRA tariff yourself, because an incorrect classification can mean either an unexpected bill or a penalty.