Tollmark

Methodology

How every figure on this site is produced, and what it deliberately does not do.

Last updated 2026-08-22

What is calculated

Every figure comes from one function. It takes an order value, shipping cost, commodity code, origin and destination, and returns an itemised estimate: customs duty, import VAT, and the carrier's typical clearance fee.

Customs value

Territories that assess on a CIF basis include freight and insurance in the value duty is charged on. Territories that assess on FOB use the goods alone. Which applies is a property of the destination, not a default.

Relief thresholds

Assessed on intrinsic value — the goods alone, excluding transport — and duty relief and VAT relief are independent of one another. A consignment can be relieved of duty and still owe VAT. This is the single most common mistake in online duty calculators.

Import VAT

Calculated on a base built from the destination's own rules. Some territories include the duty in that base, some include inland transport, some neither.

Clearance fee

A typical carrier charge, applied only where there is something to clear. A consignment relieved of both duty and VAT normally moves without one. This figure is the least precise on the page — carriers differ, and yours may charge more.

Rounding and currency

Money is handled in integer minor units throughout the calculation and converted back exactly once, at the end. Each component is rounded half away from zero as it is computed, rather than rounding the total.

Customs authorities differ on rounding, and some round per line while others round the total, so your actual bill may differ by a few pence. We would rather be transparent about where that comes from than quietly a penny off and unable to explain why.

The calculator does no currency conversion. A quote is produced in the destination's own currency, and asking for one in another currency is refused rather than answered at an unstated rate.

When a page is allowed to exist

Not every commodity and route gets its own page. Each candidate is scored out of 100, and only those reaching 70 are published. Everything below that threshold remains fully usable inside the calculator — it simply does not get a URL of its own.

Two further rules cut pages that would otherwise pass. Where duty does not depend on origin — which is most of the time — one page covers every origin rather than one per country saying the same thing. Where a group of territories applies a single tariff, they share one page carrying a table of what actually differs between them.

What this is not

An estimate, not a quotation and not customs advice. Binding tariff classification is determined by the customs authority of the destination, and the commodity code you or your seller declares is what they will assess. See the disclaimer.