Taxes and Custom Duty for Importing in India

Recently I am getting a lot of request to send items to my friends to India. And each time I have to make them understand the delivery and the custom import charges make them quite infeasible to get them delivered.

So I thought about putting up an estimated cost of what it gets charged.

Category	Items to import	Customs Duty
Books	Books (educational)	0%
Computers	Laptop, Computers	16.85%
	Computer Printers	16.85 %
	Laptop Battery	28.85%
	Hard Disk (Internal)	6.03%
	Hard Disk (External)	16.85%
	Processor	6.03%
	Other Computer Peripherals	16.85%
	Cables & Wires	25.85%
Tablets	iPad	16.85%
Mobile	Mobile Phones	6.00%
Mobile	Phone Accessories	28.85%
Music & Games	DVD/ CDS (movie)	28.85%
	Software DVD	16.854%
	DVD Players, Blu-Ray	28.85%
	iPod	28.85%
	Video games	28.85%
	Gaming Consoles	28.85%
Photography
	Digital / Video Cameras	28.80%
	Digital Still Image Camera	16.854%
	Web cameras	28.85%
	Camera Lens	28.85%
Everything Else	Television	28.85%
	Sports Equipment	16.85%
	Hand (wrist) Watches	28.85%
	Cosmetics, Stationery, Toys	28.85%
	Sunglasses	28.85%
	Electronics and Car parts	28.85%
	Apparel	23.90%
	Shoes	28.85%
	Kitchen, Dining	28.85%
	Artificial Jewelry	28.85%

How is Customs Duty Calculated?

It is important to note that the calculation of import duty is done based on the assessed value of an imported product and not the invoice value. Let me explain.
Say you have purchased a mobile phone from Amazon or eBay and have asked the seller to ship it to India. The value of the mobile phone listed in the invoics is $500. The customs officer in India may however assess the product’s value as, say, $600 and in that case, you will have to pay 6% customs duty on $600 (the assessed value) and not $500 (the invoice value).
And other than customs duty, you’ll have to pay shipping charges, broker fees, CESS and service tax for getting an item into India.
There are no taxes on importing books while the customs duty on mobile phones has recently been hiked from 1% to 6%. Also, you may import goods up to the value of INR 5000 duty free provided they are sent as gifts to you.

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