Korea Import Duty & VAT Breakdown by Clearance Type
Pick list or formal clearance and see the customs value split into goods and freight, with duty and import VAT itemized in a table
For when you already expect to be taxed and want to see how Korea Customs builds the bill. Choose your clearance type — list clearance (USD 200 for shipments from the US) or formal clearance (USD 150) — and if the order is dutiable, the customs value is broken out into a goods portion and a freight portion in an itemized table. Goods price and shipping take separate currencies, so a purchase paid in dollars with shipping billed in won goes in exactly as it happened. Category duty rates distinguish IT equipment (duty-free) from home appliances (8%), and 10% import VAT is applied on top to give you total tax payable and final landed cost.
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How to use
- Enter the purchase price and currency (USD, EUR, and so on), along with any domestic and international shipping charges.
- Pick the rough product category (clothing, electronics, cosmetics, etc.) so the matching duty rate is applied.
- Choose list clearance (US shipments) or formal clearance, then review the estimated duty, VAT, and final landed cost calculated in real time.
FAQ
- What are the duty-free thresholds?
- Under Korean customs rules, formal clearance — and list clearance from anywhere outside the United States — is duty-free when the goods are valued at USD 150 or less. Goods arriving from the United States under list clearance (certain categories such as clothing, shoes, and electronics) are duty-free up to USD 200.
- Does shipping count toward the calculation?
- For the duty-free threshold, only the value of the goods themselves is counted (including local taxes and local shipping). Once the shipment exceeds the threshold and becomes dutiable, duty and VAT are assessed on the "customs value" — the price of the goods plus the international freight charge.
- If I split one purchase into several separate orders on the same day, does each order get its own duty-free threshold?
- No. Korea Customs can combine multiple shipments cleared within a short window under the same buyer's name and from the same sender and treat them as a single transaction, precisely to prevent people from splitting purchases to dodge the duty-free limit. Simply breaking a payment into several orders does not reset the exemption threshold for each one.