How customs duty and VAT actually work when you import to South Africa
The full landed cost formula every importer needs to know — plus a worked example with real HS codes and SARS rates.
Why landed cost matters
"It's only USD 10 a unit" is the most expensive sentence in importing. The unit price is rarely more than 60–70% of what the item actually costs you delivered. The rest is freight, port handling, customs duty, VAT and last-mile.
If you don't calculate landed cost, you can buy a "cheap" import that loses you money on every sale.
The landed cost formula
The South African formula is:
Landed cost = FOB price + Freight + Insurance + Customs duty + VAT + Clearing fees + Inland delivery
And then:
Customs duty = (FOB + Freight + Insurance) × duty rate VAT = (FOB + Freight + Insurance + Customs duty) × 15% (the ATV — Added Tax Value)
HS codes — finding yours
Every product has an 8-digit HS code (Harmonised System) that SARS uses to determine the customs duty rate. Get the wrong code and you'll either underpay (penalty risk) or overpay (lost margin).
How to find yours
- Visit SARS Schedule 1
- Search by product description or chapter (e.g. Chapter 85 for electronics)
- Match all 8 digits — chapter (2) + heading (4) + subheading (6) + tariff (8)
- Verify duty rate (column "Rate of Duty")
Worked example: 200 power banks
Let's price a real shipment.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Product | 200 × 20,000 mAh power banks |
| FOB Shenzhen | USD 9.50/unit × 200 = USD 1,900 |
| Sea freight (LCL, 60 kg) | USD 280 |
| Marine insurance (0.3%) | USD 7 |
| CIF Durban | USD 2,187 ≈ R 41,553 (R 19/USD) |
| HS 8507.60 duty (0%) | R 0 |
| VAT (15% × R 41,553) | R 6,233 |
| SARS clearance + handling | R 1,200 |
| Last-mile Joburg | R 850 |
| Total landed | R 49,836 |
| Per unit | R 249 |
If the "cheap FOB" had distracted you and you'd assumed R 180/unit landed, you would have priced into the SA retail market at R 320 and discovered too late that your margin was destroyed.
Edge cases: ad-valorem, anti-dumping
- Ad-valorem duty — most common, percentage-based
- Specific duty — flat R/kg or R/unit (textiles, dairy)
- Anti-dumping duty — additional levy on goods deemed sold below market price. Common on Chinese steel, certain glassware, footwear
- Excise duty — extra on alcohol, tobacco, fuel
How BestDealz handles this
For Class B orders, our customs broker pre-classifies every product before you order. The price you see is fully landed — duty, VAT, clearance, last-mile, everything. No surprises, no SARS phone calls.
For Class A orders, all customs work was done by us months ago — the price is just SA retail with VAT inclusive.
For FOB-only or self-import scenarios outside BestDealz, our team can do a free landed cost calculation. Send us a request with the SKU and quantity.
Want us to source this for you?
Submit an RFQ — our sourcing team will return 3 supplier quotes within 24 business hours, all-in landed price.
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