Is import duty charged on the price I paid, or on something else?

On the value customs accepts, which is not necessarily the invoice. Customs builds its own figure — in Nigeria through the VIN valuation system, in Ghana from the VIN and model year, in Peru against an official reference table — adds freight and insurance to reach CIF, and then applies each charge to a specific base. Some lines sit on CIF, some on the duty figure only, some on FOB, and VAT sits on everything stacked above it.

Why can a duty rate not be quoted as a single percentage?

Because the tariff in these markets moves with the HS code, the engine capacity, the model year and sometimes the vehicle age. Ghana bands duty by engine size and adds a separate overage penalty by age. Nigeria adds a Green Tax that is nil below 2,000cc and 4% at 4,000cc and above. A single headline percentage is wrong for most of the cars actually being shipped.

Which of these markets is cheapest to clear?

The Gulf. GCC duty is 5% of CIF across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, and Qatar and Kuwait have no VAT at all. Saudi Arabia’s 15% VAT is the highest tax line in the group, and its five-year age rule is the tightest restriction. West Africa is more expensive but far deeper in volume: Nigeria stacks duty, levy, Green Tax, surcharge, ETLS and VAT, and Ghana adds eight separate charges on top of a banded duty.

What is the largest avoidable cost in these markets?

The age penalty. Ghana charges 5% of CIF on a passenger car above ten years and 20% above twelve, so the same model can cost materially more to clear simply because of its model year. Nigeria’s 12-year cap is a hard barrier rather than a penalty: a unit over the line does not clear at any price. Buying to the year, rather than to the price, is what protects the margin.

Tools

进口关税与到岸成本计算器

算清楚一台车到港之后到底要花多少钱。选目的国，填 FOB 价、海运费和车辆参数，计算器按该国海关的实际顺序叠加每一层费用。

你填的数字

国家

FOB 车价（美元）

海运费（美元）

保险费（美元）

排量（cc）

车龄（年）

关税税率（%）

故意做成可改：税率随 HS 编码、排量和车龄变化，请用清关行确认后的税率。

12 years. Nigerian Customs works to a hard 12-year cap; some agents still quote a 10-year reading, so the year is confirmed before money moves.

到岸成本估算

CIF 货值: $13,620
关税 (20%): $2,724
Import levy (used vehicles) (5%): $681
Surcharge (7%): $191
ETLS levy (ECOWAS) (0.50%): $68
CISS / FOB levy (1%): $120
VAT (7.50%): $1,305
除关税外的各项费用: $5,089

到岸总成本$18,709

CIF 的 37.36%% — 车龄上限、认证路径与税费科目来自公开法规并经我们核对，但每一台车最终由海关单独估价。本页数据只作为成本测算的输入，不等同于海关估价结果。

税费数据

Duty and age limit by destination

Reviewed 24 September 2026

国家	车龄上限	税费数据
NigeriaWest Africa	Used vehicles carry a hard 12-year age cap, assessed at the port on arrival (some clearing agents still work to a 10-year readi...	已公布税费结构
GhanaWest Africa	Ghana Standards Authority rules apply by shipment date: vehicles shipped on or after 1 October 2026 need inspection in the coun...	已公布税费结构
Ivory CoastWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles and a COC or equivalent certificate of conformity must be in place before shipment.	已公布税费结构
SenegalWest Africa	An age limit applies, and in practice units much older than about eight years are not accepted.	已公布税费结构
Burkina FasoWest Africa	Clearance happens at the port of entry — Lomé, Abidjan or Tema — and the unit arrives by road.	已公布税费结构
TogoWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles and a conformity certificate is required before shipment.	已公布税费结构
GuineaWest Africa	An age limit applies and a conformity certificate is required before shipment.	已公布税费结构
BeninWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles.	已公布税费结构
MaliWest Africa	Clearance takes place at the port of entry, most often Abidjan, Dakar or Tema, and the unit then travels by road to Bamako.	已公布税费结构
Sierra LeoneWest Africa	Used-vehicle admission is relatively open, with a conformity certificate required.	按现行税则逐票确认
Cape VerdeWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles, and island logistics push the landed cost up sharply.	按现行税则逐票确认
LiberiaWest Africa	Used-vehicle admission is relatively open.	按现行税则逐票确认
GambiaWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles.	按现行税则逐票确认
MauritaniaWest Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles.	按现行税则逐票确认
Guinea-BissauWest Africa	Used-vehicle admission is relatively open.	按现行税则逐票确认
NigerWest Africa	Clearance takes place at Cotonou or Lomé and the unit continues by road to Niamey.	已公布税费结构
UAEMiddle East	There is no hard age cap, though older units face stricter inspection and some insurers and re-export buyers will not take them.	已公布税费结构
Saudi ArabiaMiddle East	Used vehicles must be no more than five years old excluding the year of import, so a unit imported in 2026 has to be model year...	已公布税费结构
JordanMiddle East	A November 2025 rule bans the import of accident-damaged cars, and electric vehicles carry a three-year age cap.	按现行税则逐票确认
IraqMiddle East	Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region apply different rules, and the Kurdish region’s gates in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah are the l...	按现行税则逐票确认
QatarMiddle East	Used vehicles generally need to be within about five years old, and conformity certification is required.	已公布税费结构
KuwaitMiddle East	Used vehicles are generally subject to an age cap of about five years and a conformity certificate is required.	已公布税费结构
OmanMiddle East	An age limit applies to used vehicles and a conformity certificate is required.	已公布税费结构
LebanonMiddle East	Age and compliance thresholds are relatively permissive compared with the GCC.	按现行税则逐票确认
YemenMiddle East	Import thresholds are low, but there is no functioning letter-of-credit channel.	按现行税则逐票确认
BahrainMiddle East	An age limit applies to used vehicle imports and conformity certification is required.	已公布税费结构
TurkeyMiddle East	Used-vehicle import requires authorisation and carries a high tax burden, so a used-car programme is only realistic where a spe...	按现行税则逐票确认
SyriaMiddle East	Sanctions affect banking and shipping.	按现行税则逐票确认
IranMiddle East	Sanctions constrain banking and shipping arrangements.	按现行税则逐票确认
PeruSouth America	Used vehicles are admissible within age and mileage limits — about five years in practice — and the vehicle must be left-hand d...	已公布税费结构
BoliviaSouth America	Light vehicles up to six years and heavy vehicles up to eight years are admitted under DS 29836; accident-damaged and petrol-to...	已公布税费结构
VenezuelaSouth America	There is no single published age limit.	按现行税则逐票确认
EcuadorSouth America	An age limit applies to used vehicles, about five years in practice, and safeguard and quota measures change by decree.	已公布税费结构
ParaguaySouth America	Used passenger cars up to ten years old are admitted under Ley 4333/2011.	已公布税费结构
BrazilSouth America	Used-vehicle import is not a practical route.	按现行税则逐票确认
ArgentinaSouth America	Resolution 293/2025 is the opening to work with: 4x4 off-roaders and the specified industrial categories.	按现行税则逐票确认
ColombiaSouth America	Used imports require qualifying for an exception and are quota-constrained, so a used-vehicle programme only makes sense where ...	按现行税则逐票确认
ChileSouth America	Used vehicles cannot be registered.	按现行税则逐票确认
UruguaySouth America	Used vehicles are admitted only by exception under Decreto 266/013, which requires a statement of necessity.	按现行税则逐票确认
DR CongoCentral Africa	Import requires compliance review through several agencies plus a full supporting document set.	已公布税费结构
CameroonCentral Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles and a conformity certificate is required before shipment.	已公布税费结构
CongoCentral Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles, and the CEMAC tariff applies on top of the conformity requirement.	已公布税费结构
Equatorial GuineaCentral Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles and island logistics add to the cost.	按现行税则逐票确认
GabonCentral Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles, with conformity certification required.	已公布税费结构
ChadCentral Africa	Clearance happens outside the country and the unit arrives by road; inland transit insurance is confirmed before dispatch.	按现行税则逐票确认
Central African RepublicCentral Africa	Clearance takes place at Douala and the vehicle travels on by road, with the inland route subject to the security situation.	按现行税则逐票确认
AlgeriaNorth Africa	Two channels exist.	按现行税则逐票确认
LibyaNorth Africa	A local import permit is required and every order runs on advance T/T.	按现行税则逐票确认
EgyptNorth Africa	Used-vehicle import is constrained by age and licensing thresholds, so this is treated as a new-vehicle market.	按现行税则逐票确认
MoroccoNorth Africa	Used-vehicle import is closed apart from a small number of exceptions; treat the market as new-vehicle territory.	按现行税则逐票确认
TunisiaNorth Africa	Used-vehicle import is heavily restricted; the market is served with new vehicles.	按现行税则逐票确认
SudanNorth Africa	An import licence is a prerequisite and hard-currency availability shapes what can be ordered.	按现行税则逐票确认
AngolaSouthern Africa	An age limit applies to used vehicles — about five to eight years in practice — and conformity certification is required.	已公布税费结构
MadagascarSouthern Africa	Used vehicles are admitted with a conformity certificate required.	按现行税则逐票确认
EthiopiaOther LHD markets	Fuel-burning vehicles cannot be imported.	按现行税则逐票确认

车龄上限、认证路径与税费科目来自公开法规并经我们核对，但每一台车最终由海关单独估价。本页数据只作为成本测算的输入，不等同于海关估价结果。

Straight answers

How these charges actually work

Four things decide the bill: what customs says the car is worth, what it is built on, how old it is, and how the destination stacks its levies. The rest is arithmetic.

Is import duty charged on the price I paid, or on something else?: On the value customs accepts, which is not necessarily the invoice. Customs builds its own figure — in Nigeria through the VIN valuation system, in Ghana from the VIN and model year, in Peru against an official reference table — adds freight and insurance to reach CIF, and then applies each charge to a specific base. Some lines sit on CIF, some on the duty figure only, some on FOB, and VAT sits on everything stacked above it.
Why can a duty rate not be quoted as a single percentage?: Because the tariff in these markets moves with the HS code, the engine capacity, the model year and sometimes the vehicle age. Ghana bands duty by engine size and adds a separate overage penalty by age. Nigeria adds a Green Tax that is nil below 2,000cc and 4% at 4,000cc and above. A single headline percentage is wrong for most of the cars actually being shipped.
Which of these markets is cheapest to clear?: The Gulf. GCC duty is 5% of CIF across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, and Qatar and Kuwait have no VAT at all. Saudi Arabia’s 15% VAT is the highest tax line in the group, and its five-year age rule is the tightest restriction. West Africa is more expensive but far deeper in volume: Nigeria stacks duty, levy, Green Tax, surcharge, ETLS and VAT, and Ghana adds eight separate charges on top of a banded duty.
What is the largest avoidable cost in these markets?: The age penalty. Ghana charges 5% of CIF on a passenger car above ten years and 20% above twelve, so the same model can cost materially more to clear simply because of its model year. Nigeria’s 12-year cap is a hard barrier rather than a penalty: a unit over the line does not clear at any price. Buying to the year, rather than to the price, is what protects the margin.