Kenya Import Duty Calculator

Background.

Goods with a customs value of KSh 1,000,000 and a 25% duty rate do not cost KSh 1,250,000 to clear, and adding 16% VAT on top does not make it KSh 1,410,000 either. The figure is KSh 1,495,000. The difference comes from the way Kenyan import charges are layered: VAT is charged on the value after duty has been added, and two further levies, the Import Declaration Fee and the Railway Development Levy, take another 4.5% of the customs value whatever the duty band.

Every line in that bill is a percentage, but each is a percentage of something different. Import duty, IDF and RDL are worked out on the customs value, broadly the CIF value: the cost of the goods plus insurance and freight to the port of entry. Excise duty, for the goods that attract it, is charged on the customs value plus the import duty. VAT is charged on the customs value plus duty plus excise. Each layer feeds the next, so the effective rate on the customs value, 49.5% in the case above, is always higher than the headline rates suggest.

The starting rates are the ones the calculator implements: VAT at KRA's standard 16%; IDF at 2.5% and RDL at 2% of customs value, from the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act as consolidated on 27 December 2024; and a 25% duty rate, one of the four bands of the East African Community Common External Tariff in force since 1 July 2022. Every one of them can be changed, because the duty rate depends on how your goods are classified, excise touches only some products, and Finance Acts revise the levies from time to time. Customs collects duties and taxes before it releases goods, so the total is also the cash you need ready when your clearing agent lodges the entry.

What is kenya import duty calculator?

Import duty is the customs tax charged when goods enter Kenya for home use, as opposed to goods passing through in transit to a neighbouring country. Its rate is fixed by the tariff line the goods fall under. Every product is classified under a Harmonized System (HS) code, and Kenya, as a member of the East African Community customs union, applies the EAC Common External Tariff to that code. Since 1 July 2022 the CET has four main bands: 0% for raw materials and capital goods, 10% for intermediate goods not available in the region, 25% for intermediate goods that are, and 35% for finished products available in the region. A separate list of sensitive items carries higher or specific rates. Landed cost is the wider figure: the customs value plus import duty, excise, VAT, IDF and RDL, plus the local costs of clearing the goods and moving them to your premises. It is what the goods really cost you once they are sitting in your store, and the number to price them from.

How to use this calculator.

1. 01Customs value or CIF value: the cost of the goods plus insurance and freight to Mombasa, JKIA or the border post, in Kenya shillings. If you bought FOB or ex-works, add the freight and insurance yourself, and convert a dollar invoice at the exchange rate customs applies rather than the one your bank gave you.
2. 02Import duty rate: find your goods' HS code in the EAC Common External Tariff, or ask your clearing agent for the rate on that tariff line. Goods that originate in another EAC partner state and carry a certificate of origin take 0%.
3. 03Excise duty rate: leave it at 0 unless the goods are excisable. The box takes a percentage only, so a product taxed at a fixed amount per litre, kilogram or unit has to be converted to an equivalent percentage first.
4. 04VAT, IDF and RDL rates: keep 16%, 2.5% and 2% unless your goods are VAT-exempt or zero-rated, or exempt from one of the levies, in which case enter 0 for that line.
5. 05Other charges added to the VAT base: amounts that belong in the VAT base but are not already in the customs value. They attract VAT only, not duty or excise, and count as a cost rather than a tax. Freight or insurance left off the invoice is different; it belongs in the customs value, where it also attracts duty.
6. 06Other non-dutiable landed charges: the clearing agent's fee, port and container charges, storage and transport to your premises, entered as invoiced. They add to the landed cost and nothing else.

The formula.

Import duty = CV × d. Excise = (CV + import duty) × e. VAT = (CV + import duty + excise + other charges added to the VAT base) × v. IDF = CV × i and RDL = CV × r. Total taxes and levies is the sum of those five; any other charges you enter are a cost, not a tax, so they are left out of it and out of the effective rate, apart from the VAT they attract. Landed cost is CV + total taxes and levies + the charges added to the VAT base + the non-dutiable charges, and the effective rate is the total taxes and levies divided by CV. Together these give Landed = CV(1 + d)(1 + e)(1 + v) + CV(i + r) when the two charge boxes are empty. Here CV is the customs value and d, e, v, i and r are the duty, excise, VAT, IDF and RDL rates as fractions. With no excise and nothing in the two charge boxes, the effective rate collapses to one expression: d + v(1 + d) + i + r. At the default rates that is 0.25 + 0.16 × 1.25 + 0.025 + 0.02 = 0.495. The v(1 + d) term is the compounding, since VAT falls on the duty as well as on the goods, so every extra point of duty costs 1.16 points in the end. Across the four CET bands, with 16% VAT and the default levies, the effective rate is 20.5% at 0% duty, 32.1% at 10%, 49.5% at 25% and 61.1% at 35%. Excise compounds twice: it is charged on value plus duty, and VAT is then charged on the excise in turn. The arithmetic works from the rates you type; it does not look up a tariff. Nor does it handle duties set as a fixed amount per unit or as the higher of two alternatives, KRA's own valuation schedule for motor vehicles, exemptions and remission schemes, or any charge beyond these five lines.

A worked example.

Frequently asked questions.

References& sources.

1. [1]Kenya Revenue Authority (2026). "How to Import." KRA Learn About Importation.
2. [2]East African Community (2026). "Trade Regime." EAC Customs Union.
3. [3]Kenya Revenue Authority (2022). "Implementation of the 2022 Harmonized System & the 2022 East African Community Common External Tariff." KRA Public Notices.
4. [4]Kenya Law (2024). "Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act, No. 29 of 2016." National Council for Law Reporting.
5. [5]Kenya Revenue Authority (2026). "Value Added Tax (VAT)." KRA File & Pay.