Landed Cost Batch Calculator
Apportion freight across every line item and get per-unit landed cost — in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Nothing you paste is uploaded — every figure is computed in this browser. HS duty rates and official customs exchange rates are out of scope: enter them yourself.
1. Invoice line items
Or drop a CSV/TSV file here —
2. Match your columns
Quantity and unit price are required. Leave a column unset if your invoice does not have it — costs apportioned on a missing column cannot be split.
3. Shipment
Advanced — excise, VAT handling, paper entry
Korea only, and only for goods that attract it. Apportioned across items by customs value, then folded into the VAT base — that cascade is what makes Korean import VAT higher than a flat 10% of the invoice.
Off by default: a VAT-registered importer reclaims import VAT as an input tax credit, so putting it in the cost overstates it. Turn this on only if you cannot deduct it (VAT-exempt business).
4. Shipment-level costs
| Cost | Amount | Apportion by | Dutiable |
|---|
Paste your invoice rows above — or load the sample invoice — to see per-item landed cost.
Why landed cost has to be worked out per line, not per invoice
An invoice gives you one FOB or ex-works price per item, but the number that actually matters for pricing and margin is what each unit costs once it clears customs — goods value plus its fair share of freight, insurance, duty and clearance fees. Spreading shipment-level charges evenly, or folding them into one flat "landed cost" percentage, misprices whichever items are unusually light, cheap, bulky or heavy. This calculator apportions each cost line on the basis that actually drove it — value, weight, cubic volume or quantity — then runs the correct duty and VAT stack for the destination country.
Reading your invoice into the calculator
- Paste or drop the invoice rows. Copy straight out of Excel or drop a CSV/TSV file; it's parsed in memory in this tab, nothing is uploaded.
- Match your columns. Confirm which column is quantity, unit price, weight, CBM and HS code. Quantity and unit price are required; leave anything else unset rather than let the tool guess.
- Set the shipment. Import country decides the CIF/FOB customs value basis and VAT rules; transport mode toggles the US Harbor Maintenance Fee.
- Enter shipment-level costs. Freight, insurance, clearance and any other charge each get an apportionment basis and a "dutiable" flag — whether it's added to the customs value before duty applies.
How the apportionment and duty stack run
Each item's share of a cost line is cost × (item's basis quantity ÷ total basis quantity) — value for insurance and most flat fees, weight for air freight, CBM for ocean freight, occasionally plain quantity for a flat per-carton charge. The dutiable value per item is invoice value plus whichever cost lines are marked dutiable — freight and insurance under CIF, nothing extra under FOB. Duty is dutiable value times the rate you enter; VAT, where it applies, is calculated on dutiable value plus duty; and landed cost is invoice value plus every apportioned cost plus duty, with VAT excluded unless you opt in.
Worked examples
Example 1 — Korea, CIF, freight apportioned by CBM
Speakers: 120 units at $18.50 (value $2,220, 1.44 CBM). Phone cases: 500 units at $2.00 (value $1,000, 0.6 CBM). Ocean freight $600 splits by CBM into $423.53 and $176.47; insurance $16.10 (0.5% of value) splits by value into $11.10 and $5.00. CIF value: $2,654.63 and $1,181.47. At 8% duty the speakers owe $212.37; the cases are duty-free. Landed cost (VAT excluded): $2,922.16 for the speakers ($24.35/unit), $1,206.31 for the cases ($2.41/unit).
Example 2 — United States, FOB, MPF and HMF
Mugs: 2,000 units at $3.20 (value $6,400, 1,000 kg). Tumblers: 800 units at $4.50 (value $3,600, 600 kg). Freight $2,400 splits by weight into $1,500 and $900, but never enters the FOB dutiable base. MPF (0.3464% of $10,000, inside the $33.58–$651.50 bracket) is $34.64, split by value into $22.17 and $12.47. HMF (0.125%, ocean only) is $12.50, split into $8.00 and $4.50. At 6% and 4% duty: $384.00 and $144.00. Landed cost (no US import VAT): $8,314.17 for the mugs ($4.16/unit), $4,660.97 for the tumblers ($5.83/unit).
Customs value basis and fees by destination
| Country | Dutiable (customs) value | Import VAT | Country-specific fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korea | CIF — goods + freight + insurance | 10%, cascading over duty (+ excise where it applies) | Individual consumption tax on select goods |
| Japan | CIF | Consumption tax, standard or reduced rate | — |
| EU (per member state) | CIF | Member-state VAT rate, varies by country | — |
| United States | FOB — goods value only | None | MPF 0.3464% (min $33.58 / max $651.50); HMF 0.125%, ocean only |
Common mistakes and practical tips
- Apportioning everything by value. It's the shortcut most spreadsheets take, and it's wrong for anything billed on volume or weight — it overcharges dense, cheap items and undercharges bulky, expensive ones. Match the basis to what actually drove the charge.
- Leaving import VAT switched into landed cost by mistake. A VAT-registered importer reclaims it as an input tax credit, so including it overstates true product cost. Only VAT-exempt importers should turn that toggle on.
- Forgetting the manual-entry MPF surcharge. A US paper (non-electronic) entry adds a flat $4.03 on top of the percentage-based fee.
- Garbled characters after uploading a CSV. Older Korean or Japanese exports are sometimes CP949/EUC-KR or Shift-JIS, not UTF-8 — use the re-read option that appears rather than fixing text by hand.
What this tool doesn't do
It doesn't classify goods under an HS code or look up a duty rate — that judgement call depends on material, function and origin, so you supply the rate. It doesn't fetch a live customs exchange rate either, since that would mean sending your invoice to a server; use your customs authority's officially published rate. It also doesn't apply free-trade-agreement preferential rates, anti-dumping duties or de minimis exemptions — fold those into the duty rate you enter if they apply. Confirm anything beyond straightforward apportionment with a licensed customs broker before filing.
Sources & further reading
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection — customs valuation, entry procedures and user fees (MPF, HMF)
- International Trade Administration — duty, tariff and import cost guidance for traders
- European Commission Taxation and Customs Union — EU customs value (CIF) and import VAT rules
- GOV.UK Import and Export — UK import duty, VAT accounting and valuation methods
Frequently asked questions
Should freight be apportioned by value, weight or CBM?
Use the basis that actually drove the charge — which is why this landed cost calculator sets the basis per cost line rather than once for the whole shipment. Ocean freight is billed on volume, so apportion it by CBM. Air freight and terminal handling follow chargeable weight. Insurance is a percentage of value, so it splits by value. Customs brokerage is usually a flat fee per entry, and value is the conventional way to spread it. Splitting everything by value is the shortcut most spreadsheets take, and it quietly overcharges dense, cheap items and undercharges bulky, expensive ones. If a basis column is empty the tool refuses to guess: freight cost allocation stops and asks you to pick another basis.
Why does the US charge duty without freight, while Korea, the EU and Japan include it?
Because the customs value basis is set by the destination country's law, not by your Incoterms. The United States assesses duty on the FOB value — the price of the goods alone, with international freight and insurance excluded. Korea, Japan and the EU assess on the CIF value, so freight and insurance are added to the goods value before the duty rate is applied. The same shipment therefore has two different dutiable bases depending on where it lands. Pick the import country and this tool switches the CIF/FOB customs value basis for you: for the US the "dutiable" checkbox on each cost line is disabled on purpose, because no amount of freight can enter a FOB base.
Why is VAT excluded from landed cost by default?
Because a VAT-registered importer gets it back. Import VAT is deductible as an input tax credit, so it is a cash-flow item, not a cost — booking it into inventory overstates your margin and misstates the product cost. Duty is different: it is never refundable, so it always belongs in landed cost. That is why this import duty and VAT calculator computes VAT for you, shows it in the tax summary, and still leaves it out of the landed cost column. If you cannot deduct it — a VAT-exempt business, for instance — switch on "Include import VAT in landed cost" under Advanced and every figure updates.
What are MPF and HMF, and why do they appear only for the US?
They are US-specific customs user fees that sit alongside duty. The Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) is 0.3464% of the value of the merchandise, but it is bracketed: for FY2026 it cannot fall below $33.58 nor exceed $651.50 per entry, so on small shipments it behaves like a flat minimum and on large ones like a cap. The Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) is 0.125% of the value and applies to ocean cargo only — air, truck and rail arrivals are exempt, so switching the transport mode to Air zeroes it out and says so. Both are charged per entry, so this calculator apportions them across your items by customs value. Note that the US has no import VAT, so that column disappears when you select the United States.
Why do I have to type in the duty rate and exchange rate myself?
Because looking them up would mean sending your invoice to a server, and this tool's whole point is that it never does. HS classification is a judgement call that decides the duty rate — the same product can sit under different headings depending on material, function and origin — and the customs exchange rate is a published weekly figure that only your customs authority can make official. Guessing either one would give you a confident number that is wrong. So you enter the duty rate per line and the applied exchange rate once, and the tool does the part that is genuinely mechanical: freight apportionment, the CIF/FOB split, the duty and VAT stack, and rounding reconciliation. Everything else — every price and supplier on that invoice — stays in your browser.