UK customs duty is the customs value multiplied by the rate assigned to the commodity code in the UK Trade Tariff. The customs value covers the goods price plus freight and insurance to the UK border. Import VAT, normally 20 percent, is charged on the duty-inclusive sum. For goods with documented EU origin the rate is usually 0 under the TCA.
How is UK import duty calculated step by step?
- Establish the commodity code; everything depends on it, as we explain in how to find a customs tariff code.
- Check the rate for that code in the UK Trade Tariff: the third-country rate and the preferential rate for EU origin separately.
- Work out the customs value: price of the goods plus freight and insurance to the UK border.
- Multiply the customs value by the duty rate.
- Add import VAT, normally 20 percent, on the sum of the customs value and the duty, unless the goods carry a reduced rate.
A worked example on an official rate
Take porcelain tableware, code 6911 10 00, subheading "other". According to the UK Trade Tariff the third-country duty is 12 percent, the preference for goods of EU origin is 0 percent and VAT is 20 percent (as at 17 August 2026). Assume an invoice of GBP 2000, freight to the border of GBP 250 and insurance of GBP 30. The customs value is GBP 2280. Without proof of origin the duty is 12 percent of GBP 2280, which is GBP 273.60, and VAT is 20 percent of GBP 2553.60, which is GBP 510.72. Total charges: GBP 784.32. With a statement on EU origin the duty drops to zero and VAT on GBP 2280 comes to GBP 456. The difference on one pallet of tableware is over GBP 328, purely for having the origin paperwork in order.
Where do you find the correct rate?
The only binding source is the UK Trade Tariff tool on gov.uk: you enter the commodity code and see the third-country rate, preferences, VAT and any additional measures such as anti-dumping duties. Rates differ radically between product groups, so copying a rate from a similar product is a straight road to error. We describe the consequences in wrong HS code: what a tariff mistake costs.
When is the duty zero?
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement removes tariffs for goods originating in the EU, but origin has to be documented with an exporter's statement on the invoice or importer's knowledge. EU origin does not simply mean shipped from Poland: the goods must meet the rules of origin, which we explain in TCA rules of origin and zero tariff. Chinese goods repacked in Poland will pay the full third-country rate in the UK.
Who pays all this, and how?
Whether the seller or the buyer pays is set by the agreed Incoterms; we walk through the roles in who pays duty and VAT when importing from Poland to the UK. The British importer usually settles import VAT cashlessly on the VAT return thanks to postponed VAT accounting, and duty can be paid from a deferment account, covered in our piece on the duty deferment account. A properly arranged payment route is a precondition for clearance that does not stop the truck.
Excise and additional measures: when the bill grows
Duty and VAT are not always the end of the list. Alcohol, tobacco and some fuels carry UK excise duty at its own rates, regardless of customs preferences; we describe alcohol exports in our article on excise and the EMCS system. Selected goods from certain directions also attract anti-dumping or countervailing measures, visible in the Trade Tariff as additional entries against the code. Finally, VAT is not always 20 percent: some goods, for example most food and publications, are zero-rated, and some categories carry a reduced rate. A reliable calculation therefore starts with a full read-out of every measure attached to the code in the Trade Tariff for the specific origin, not with the duty rate alone. We run that read-out for clients when setting up their first clearance.
Sources
- UK Trade Tariff: code 6911 10 00 90, duty and VAT rates (accessed 17 Aug 2026)
- GOV.UK: Trade Tariff lookup (accessed 17 Aug 2026)
- GOV.UK: working out the customs value of imported goods (accessed 17 Aug 2026)
Want to know the charges before the goods leave? Write via our contact form: we check the code, the rate and the origin documents as part of handling your clearance.
