When you’re importing from China to the UK, you want to get all your costs predicted and budgeted for from the get-go. Transportation can be the largest cost so you need to know upfront in order to make an informed decision about whether sea freight is viable for you. However, when you request a quote for sea freight, your UK Duty and VAT aren’t included in it.
A lot of people find this confusing; after all, how is a quote inclusive if it doesn’t include one of the largest charges in the process?
Today, we’re explaining to you why sea freight duty and VAT aren’t included – and how you can predict it.
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Why Your Quote Doesn't Include UK Sea Freight Duty + VAT
Short answer: Your quote doesn’t include UK Duty + VAT because UK Duty + VAT is not charged by us; it’s charged by HMRC.
UK Duty + VAT is a tax charged on imports; it’s collected by the government when your goods clear through Customs, or they won’t be released. The rates and cost of your UK Duty + VAT will differ depending on what goods you’re importing and their country of origin.
You will be required to select a tariff code that provides a description of your goods and determines what UK Duty & VAT you’ll be paying – take a look at our guide to selecting your tariff code.
Although we can pay HMRC on your behalf and we can help you predict the UK Duty + VAT pretty accurately, we cannot 100% control the costs. If your goods are held at Customs or subject to testing (which is often unpredictable) you can be charged extra for this too. As all of these things are controlled by a third party – and the money goes to the government, not our pockets – we don’t include it as a part of our quote.
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Let Us Help You Predict Your Sea Freight Duty & VAT Costs
Although we don’t include it as part of our quote, we can help you predict your UK Duty + VAT costs; in fact, with all of our years of experience, we’re pretty good at it! We’ve already written posts dedicated to helping you find out how much you’ll be paying Customs that you can use to help you figure out your costs:
Duty and VAT Estimator
How To Find Your Product’s Commodity Code On The UK Trade TariffYou can find loads of other resources like the ones above, right here on our blog.
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Contact Shippo With Sea Freight Duty & VAT Questions
If you’re struggling to calculate how much sea freight duty you could end up paying, we’re happy to help over the phone! Don’t hesitate to get some extra assistance!
Hopefully, this post was helpful and allowed you to understand why our sea freight quotes don’t include UK Duty + VAT.
If you are importing via sea freight and you want some help, feel free to contact us or get a free quote!
Great service, great people. A really great freight forwarder. Don’t look anywhere else. After having some bad experiences with other forwarders in the UK, we’re so happy we’ve found a long term partner in Shippo. They go above and beyond when required.Lynette Holton
