Tool · trade

What an import really costs

Five statutory charges, and each one is applied to a different base. Duty is charged on CIF, the port surcharge on the duty itself, CISS on FOB, and VAT on everything accumulated before it. Costing an import as a flat percentage of CIF gets the number wrong every time.

CIF = 11,300.00. Where insurance is not declared Customs imputes it, so leaving it at zero understates every charge assessed on CIF.

Rates are HS 6-digit. About 96% of subheadings carry one rate across every 8-digit line beneath them and can be applied directly. Where a subheading spans a range it is shown as a range and not auto-filled — the average of a range appears in no schedule, so take the rate for your exact 8-digit code and type it in. Preferential origin, excise and product-specific levies are separate from this figure.

Selecting a chapter shows which agency must clear the goods — NAFDAC registration or a SONCAP certificate — which is a real cost and a real delay.

This is the regulatory regime only — the duty rate comes from the tariff lookup above, which is a separate dataset at a finer granularity.

ChargeAssessed onRate %SourceAmount
CIF valueFOB + freight + insuranceyour figures11,300.00
Import dutyCIF value20you select2,260.00
published158.20
published56.50
published100.00
National Automotive Council levy on vehicle imports; the band varies by vehicle type.your estimate
Alcohol, tobacco, sugar-sweetened beverages and similar. Rate and base are product-specific.your estimate
Supplementary protection on selected HS lines, charged above the CET band.your estimate
Raw and refined sugar, under the Sugar Master Plan.your estimate
VATCIF + duty + chargespublished1,040.60
Statutory duties & levies3,615.30

Clearing & logistics

Quoted per shipment, not gazetted — enter your own figures. On a typical container these rival or exceed the statutory bill, which is why a duty-only figure is not a landed cost. None of it is sourced and none of it is presented as if it were.

Goods (CIF)11,300.00
Statutory duties & levies3,615.30
Clearing & logistics0.00
Total landed cost14,915.30

Charges add 32.0% on top of the CIF value. VAT is assessed on 13,874.70, not on CIF, because its base includes the duty and the levies charged before it.

Enter every figure in one currency; the result is in that currency. Customs assesses duty in naira at its own published exchange rate, set independently of the market rate — converting at the market rate understates the naira bill. Rates marked published come from the Nigeria Customs Service schedule recorded in ONYX; adjusted means you changed a published rate; your estimate means the figure is yours. Product-specific levies are off by default because switching one on is a claim about your consignment, not about the schedule.

The charges, as published
Import Duty (ECOWAS CET)0%–35% (5-band CET)

Applied to: CIF value

Base tariff by HS code under the ECOWAS Common External Tariff. Exact rate is per-HS — look up on the Nigeria Trade Portal / CET schedule.

https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3133
Port Surcharge (Ports levy)7%

Applied to: Import duty

7% of the import duty amount.

https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3133
ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) levy0.5%

Applied to: CIF value

0.5% of CIF.

https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3133
Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS)1%

Applied to: FOB value

1% of FOB.

https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3133
Value Added Tax (VAT)7.5%

Applied to: CIF + duty + surcharge + other charges

7.5% applied to the duty-inclusive value.

https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3133
Next
Compare your FX access and cost pressure with other operatorsWhich regulator governs my product? (HS chapter lookup)The full import procedure, step by step