Customs Duty Calculator

Singapore – Customs and Import duty tax calculation method

Customs Duties or Import duty and taxes will be pending and need to be cleared while importing goods into Singapore whether by a private individual or a commercial entity.

The valuation method is CIF.

  • That means the import duty and taxes payable are calculated on the complete shipping value, which includes the cost of the imported goods, the cost of freight, and the cost of insurance.  In addition to duty, imports are subjected to GST sales tax, and in some cases to excise duty.

Below table provide the Duty and Sales tax for Singapore :

Duty Rates Average Duty Rate Sales Tax(GST) Threshold on goods
0% to 4% 0% ST=7%
VAT = ST * (CIF + Duty+ other taxes)
if product value is less than SGD 400 then import is duty free(Excluding Liqueur and Tobacco)

There are 4 categories of dutiable goods:

  1. Intoxicating liquors
  2. Tobacco products
  3. Motor vehicles
  4. Petroleum products

Please refer to the list of dutiable goods(Singapore Customs) for their respective duty rates. All other products are non-dutiable.

Examples on the calculation of duties payable:

  1. Intoxicating liquors

  2. Duties payable = Total quantity in litres x Customs and/or excise duty rate x Percentage of alcoholic strength

    Company A imports 75 litres of stout with alcoholic strength of 5%. Assuming the customs and Excise duties for stout is S$16 and S$60 per litre of alcohol respectively:

    As both customs and excise duties are levied on the import of stout,

    the duties payable = 75 x (S$16 + 60) x 5% = S$285

  3. Tobacco products

  4. a)      All tobacco products except cigarettes

    Duties payable = Total weight (in kilogrammes) x Excise duty rate

    Company A imports 100 kilogrammes (kgm) of tobacco stems. Assuming the excise duty for tobacco stems is S$352 per kilogramme:

    Duties payable = 100 x S$352 = S$35,200

    b)      Cigarettes

    Duties payable = Total number of sticks x Weight of individual sticks (every gramme or part thereof) x Excise duty rate

    Company A imports 100 sticks of cigarettes weighing 1.5 grammes each. Assuming the excise duty for cigarettes is 38.8 cents for every gramme or part thereof of each stick:

    Since the weight of each cigarette is between 1 and 2 grammes, the weight to be taken to calculate the duties payable is 2 grammes.

    Hence, duties payable = 100 x 2 x S$0.388 = S$77.60

  5. Motor vehicles

  6. Duties payable = Customs value x Excise duty rate

    Company A imports a motor car that was bought at S$100,000 on Free on Board (FOB) incoterms(Singapore Customs). The overseas freight, handling and insurance charges to ship the car to Singapore cost S$1,000. Assuming the excise duty for motor cars is 20% of the customs value:

    Customs value of car = S$101,000

    Duties payable = S$101,000 x 20% = S$20,200

  7. Petroleum

  8. Duties payable = Total weight x Excise duty rate

    Company A imports 100 litres of unleaded motor spirit of RON 97 and above.  Assuming the excise duty for unleaded motor spirit of RON 97 and above is S$7.10 per dal (1 dal = 10 litres):

    Duties payable = S$7.10 x 10 = S$71

Extra taxes and customs fees while importing

Alcohol and tobacco products are subject to excise duty. They may applicable either ad valorem or per units (SGD) per litre