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.
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.
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% |
| 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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