uk_duty_calculator
Estimate UK import duty and VAT for any commodity code by providing the goods value, origin country, and tariff code. Uses live UK Trade Tariff rates for accurate calculation.
Instructions
Estimate UK import duty and VAT for a commodity code using the LIVE GOV.UK Trade Tariff — rates are fetched per request, not from a static table. The CIF value is composed from customs_value + freight_cost + insurance_cost; duty = CIF x the duty rate for the origin country; VAT (typically 20%) applies on the duty-inclusive value.
Provide commodity_code (6-10 digits), origin_country (ISO-2) and customs_value in GBP; freight_cost, insurance_cost and incoterm are optional refinements.
Behavior: live lookup plus deterministic arithmetic on the returned rate; an unknown or non-declarable commodity code errors with HMRC's message (a 6-digit code may need extending to its 8/10-digit declarable line); origin-dependent measures the tariff cannot resolve automatically surface in warnings. Rate-limited (anonymous use: 25 requests/day per IP): a 429 error body carries retry_after_seconds and a Retry-After header — back off and retry, or call get_subscribe_link for higher limits.
Returns: commodity_code and description, origin country, cif_value, duty_rate (+ percent), duty_amount, vat_rate, vat_amount, total_import_taxes, total_landed_cost and warnings under result; validity.as_of marks the live-rate timestamp; plus confidence, _source and citation (the FreightUtils v1 response envelope).
Limitations: an estimate, not a customs ruling — excise, quotas, anti-dumping measures, reliefs and origin-proof requirements can change the outcome; confirm with a customs broker or HMRC before relying on it.
Related: hs_code_lookup (find the 6-digit code first), incoterms_lookup (who actually pays these costs).
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| incoterm | No | Incoterms 2020 basis of the customs_value — documents which costs are already included. | |
| freight_cost | No | Freight cost in GBP — added to the CIF value. Default: 0. | |
| customs_value | Yes | Goods value in GBP. Example: 1000. | |
| commodity_code | Yes | HS/UK tariff code, 6-10 digits. Example: "8471300000" (portable computers). 6-digit codes may need the declarable 8/10-digit line. | |
| insurance_cost | No | Insurance cost in GBP — added to the CIF value. Default: 0. | |
| origin_country | Yes | ISO 2-letter country of origin. Examples: "CN", "DE", "US". |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| ok | Yes | ||
| result | Yes | ||
| _source | Yes | ||
| citation | Yes | ||
| validity | No | ||
| warnings | No | ||
| confidence | Yes | ||
| blocking_errors | No | ||
| envelope_version | Yes | ||
| normalized_input | No |