Customs Duties & Taxes FAQs

Here is a list of common questions we receive regarding international shipping and the fees associated with them. 

What are custom duties? 

According to US Customs and Boarder Protection - Customs Duty is a tariff or tax imposed on goods when transported across international borders. The purpose of Customs Duty is to protect each country's economy, residents, jobs, environment, etc., by controlling the flow of goods, especially restrictive and prohibited goods, into and out of the country. Each article has a specific duty rate, which is determined by a number of factors, including where you acquired the article, where it was made, and what it is made of. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage. This percentage is determined by the total purchased value of the article(s) paid at a foreign country and not based on factors such as quality, size, or weight. 

For more details and further explanation please see Customs Duty Information.

Does Shipping Pilot pay or does the recipient pay upon receipt? 

This depends on your current shipping preference set up at the time of onboarding with us. If you are unsure which you are using please reach out to your account manager or our customer service team at customercare@shippingpilot.co. Below is a brief explanation of services using DHL as an example. 

DHL International Direct for DDP - DDP describes services in which Duties are being billed to the shipper. We then invoice you for the amount the carrier bills us, on your weekly invoices. 

DHL International Standard for DDU - DDU describes services in which Duties are being billed to the recipient. They will need to pay upon delivery or pay at their local postal office depending on the receiving country. 

Our customer was billed but we requested to be billed via an invoice, how can I fix this? 

We do apologize. Please reach out to our billing team billing@shippingpilot.co and customer service team customercare@shippingpilot.co for further assistance.  

How much will I or my customer be billed? 

The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage of the total order. This can include any surcharges and applicable taxes. The package would need to be marked delivered and we would need to be billed by the carrier in order to confirm how much they will be billed. We only find out this rate once we are charged by the carrier upon delivery.

Please be advised actual fees may differ when using this Calculator

Quick Tax and Duties Calculator