Flat rates of duty

As a private importer, classification of goods can fall under flat rates of duty. These rates are not applicable on goods imported for commercial purposes. The flat rates applied on these goods are as follows:

ITEM	RATE
Liqueurs	$2.50/litre
Spirits (other than liqueurs)	$2.50/litre
Wines	90%
Clear beer	110%
Aerated beverages	70%
Cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products	110%
Books	5%
Audio, television and video equipment of tariff heading	55%
Clothing	40% + $3.00/kg
Footwear	40% + $1.00/pair
Other goods	40%

Example:

A person imports a Jacket from China worth around $50 and it is shipped via DHL. Using flat rates of duty for clothing, the client will pay 40% duty plus $3/kg. Let’s say the jacket weighs around 1kg. So his total duty will be:

• We add freight charge 15% of invoice value
• 15% of 50 = $7.50
• So the value for duty purposes will be $57.50

Duty	$57.50 X 40% = $23
	1kg X $3/kg = $3.00
TOTAL	$3.00 + $23.00 = $26.00

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Tariff rates.

Tariff rates are those rates set out in the Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2017 under Statutory Instrument 53 of 2017. They are used for all commercial importations and also private importers can also elect to use these rates if they so wish or just use flat rates of duty. Tariff rates incorporate import Value Added Tax (VAT) as compared to flat rates of duty. If we were to calculate the above example using tariff rates,

TARIFF	ITEM	DUTY RATE
6203.32.00	JACKETS  OF COTTON	40% + $3/KG

The rates of duty would be as follows:

• We add freight charge 15% of invoice value
• 15% of 50 = $7.50
• So the value for duty purposes will be $57.50

Duty	$57.50 X 40% = $23
	1kg X $3/kg = $3.00
VAT	$3.00 + $23.00 + $57.50 = $12.53
TOTAL	$3.00 + $23.00 + $12.53 = $38.53

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