Customs Duty Calculator India — Import Duty, IGST & Baggage
Work out the import duty on goods coming into India. It covers business shipments (BCD, Social Welfare Surcharge, AIDC and IGST), online orders from abroad at the 10% rate from April 2026, and travel baggage above the ₹75,000 allowance in the Baggage Rules, 2026.
What is customs duty?
Customs duty is the tax India charges on goods coming into the country. It is levied under the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. What you actually pay is several charges stacked on top of each other: Basic Customs Duty (BCD), the Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS), for some goods the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), and finally IGST, which replaces the GST you would pay on the same goods bought in India.
How much you pay depends on who is importing and how the goods arrive. A business importing a container is charged differently from a person ordering a jacket from a US website, and both differ from a traveller carrying goods in a suitcase. This calculator has a tab for each.
Customs duty formula
2. BCD = AV × BCD rate
3. SWS = BCD × 10%
4. AIDC (if applicable) = AV × AIDC rate
5. IGST = (AV + BCD + SWS + AIDC) × IGST rate
Total payable = BCD + SWS + AIDC + IGST
IGST is charged on the value after customs duty is added, so a higher BCD also raises the IGST.
Worked example: business import by sea
A trader imports goods with an FOB value of ₹5,00,000, sea freight of ₹40,000 and insurance not shown on the invoice. The BCD is 10% and the IGST is 18%.
| Step | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| FOB value | Invoice value at the port of export | ₹5,00,000 |
| + Freight | Actual | ₹40,000 |
| + Insurance | Not known, so 1.125% of FOB | ₹5,625 |
| Assessable value | CIF | ₹5,45,625 |
| BCD | 10% of ₹5,45,625 | ₹54,562.50 |
| SWS | 10% of ₹54,562.50 | ₹5,456.25 |
| IGST | 18% of ₹6,05,643.75 | ₹1,09,015.88 |
| Total duty and IGST | 30.98% of AV | ₹1,69,034.63 |
If the trader is GST-registered, the ₹1,09,015.88 of IGST comes back as input tax credit. The real cost of importing is then the ₹60,018.75 of BCD and SWS, which is 11% of the assessable value.
Effective duty rate table
Because the charges compound, the total percentage is always higher than BCD + IGST. This table gives the total payable as a % of assessable value, with SWS at 10% of BCD and no AIDC:
| BCD rate | IGST 5% | IGST 18% | IGST 40% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 5.00% | 18.00% | 40.00% |
| 5% | 10.77% | 24.49% | 47.70% |
| 7.5% | 13.66% | 27.73% | 51.55% |
| 10% | 16.55% | 30.98% | 55.40% |
| 15% | 22.32% | 37.47% | 63.10% |
| 20% | 28.10% | 43.96% | 70.80% |
| 25% | 33.88% | 50.45% | 78.50% |
| 40% | 51.20% | 69.92% | 101.60% |
| 70% | 85.85% | 108.86% | 147.80% |
IGST rates follow the GST slabs: 5% and 18% for most goods, and 40% for luxury and sin goods. Gold and silver are charged 3%.
How customs works out the assessable value
Duty is charged on the transaction value under Section 14 of the Customs Act and the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007. In practice that means the CIF value, the price of the goods delivered to the Indian port:
- Freight not known: customs adds 20% of FOB.
- Insurance not known: customs adds 1.125% of FOB.
- Exchange rate: the CBIC-notified import rate in force on the date the Bill of Entry is filed, not your bank's rate.
- Also added: royalties and licence fees tied to the goods, buying commissions you pay, and the cost of tools or moulds you supplied to the seller, where these aren't already in the price.
Undervaluing an invoice to save duty is a common reason for shipments being held. Customs compares declared prices with its database of similar imports and can reassess the value.
How to find the BCD rate for your product
- Classify the product under its 8-digit ITC-HS code. The code decides the rate, so wrong classification is the biggest source of duty errors.
- Look up the tariff rate in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act (on the CBIC website or ICEGATE).
- Check exemption notifications. Many goods carry a lower effective rate than the tariff shows, and some have conditions such as end-use certificates.
- Check for trade-agreement rates. Goods from a country India has a trade agreement with (such as ASEAN members, the UAE, Japan or Korea) may qualify for a lower rate if you have a valid certificate of origin.
- Check for anti-dumping or safeguard duty on products from specific countries, especially steel, chemicals, solar items and some goods from China.
Duty on online orders and gifts from abroad
Goods for personal use that arrive by courier or post are cleared under customs heading 9804 at a single rate, whatever the product. From 1 April 2026, Budget 2026 cut that rate from 20% to 10%, with the 10% Social Welfare Surcharge now added:
| Before 1 April 2026 | From 1 April 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Customs Duty | 20% | 10% |
| Social Welfare Surcharge | Not levied | 10% of BCD |
| Total at 18% IGST | 41.60% | 30.98% |
| Duty on a ₹21,500 parcel (₹20,000 item + ₹1,500 shipping) | ₹8,944 | ₹6,661 |
The courier collects the duty from you before delivery, often with a separate clearance fee. Goods bought to resell are commercial imports and are charged at the product's own rate, which you can calculate on the Business Import tab.
Baggage rules 2026: duty-free allowance for travellers
The Baggage Rules, 2026 replaced the 2016 rules from 2 February 2026 and raised the duty-free limits:
| Passenger | Duty-free allowance (new goods) | Before Feb 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Indian resident, person of Indian origin, or foreigner on a non-tourist visa (by air or sea) | ₹75,000 | ₹50,000 |
| Foreign tourist (by air or sea) | ₹25,000 | ₹15,000 |
| Arriving by land | Used personal effects only | - |
| Infant | Used personal effects only | - |
| Crew member | ₹2,500 | - |
- Laptop: one new laptop or tablet is duty-free on top of the allowance for any passenger aged 18 or over.
- No pooling: each passenger's allowance is their own. A family of four can't combine allowances to bring in one ₹3 lakh television.
- Jewellery: a resident or person of Indian origin who has lived abroad for more than a year can bring 40 g of jewellery (women) or 20 g (others) duty-free.
- Always dutiable (outside the allowance): more than 2 litres of alcohol, more than 100 cigarettes, 25 cigars or 125 g of tobacco, televisions, firearms, and gold or silver in any form other than jewellery.
Duty on goods above the allowance
Goods above the allowance are charged at the baggage rate under tariff item 9803: 35% BCD + 10% SWS = 38.5%, with no IGST. Budget 2026 only changed this notification's reference to the new Baggage Rules, not the rate. The 10% cut covers personal imports by courier or post, not suitcase baggage.
Transfer of residence
If you are moving back to India, personal and household goods get a larger allowance based on how long you lived abroad. The current limits are ₹1,50,000 for 3–12 months abroad, ₹3,00,000 for 1–2 years, and ₹7,50,000 for more than 2 years.
Common customs duty mistakes
- Adding BCD and IGST together. 10% + 18% is not 28%. Because the charges compound, the real figure is 30.98%.
- Using FOB, not CIF. Duty is charged on the landed value. If you leave freight out, customs adds 20%.
- Using the bank exchange rate. Customs uses the CBIC-notified rate.
- Assuming the 10% personal rate applies to baggage. It doesn't: baggage above the allowance is charged 38.5%.
- Forgetting the IGST credit. For GST-registered businesses, IGST is recoverable, so price your products on BCD + SWS + AIDC.
Related tools: the GST Calculator for domestic sales, and the CBM Calculator for shipment volume.
