How Customs Value Is Calculated in Taiwan (CIF)

Almost every miscalculated import tax bill starts in the same place. Multiplying the sticker price by the tariff rate leaves out freight and insurance, and that error is then amplified again by the business tax. This guide covers the three components of customs value, how free shipping is treated, and whether agent fees count.

Last updated:2026-08

The three components

Customs value = goods price + international freight + insurance. All three are required. In trade terms this is CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight), the value of the goods delivered to the port of import.

It is not the retail sticker price, and not the amount charged to your card. The distinction sounds minor but it determines every tax that follows:

Item	Included	Note
Goods price	Yes	The actual transaction price
International freight	Yes	From the point of export to the Taiwan port of entry
Insurance	Yes	Imputed proportionally where no policy exists
Domestic delivery	No	Movement after the goods arrive in Taiwan
The import duty itself	No	Duty is an output, not part of the base

Why omitting freight costs more than it looks

Freight does not only raise the duty, it is multiplied a second time by the business tax. Take goods at NT$5,000, freight NT$1,500, insurance NT$60, rate 7.5%:

	Goods price only	Correct customs value
Base	5,000	6,560
Duty	375	492
Business tax	269	353
Total	644	845

A NT$201 difference from NT$1,560 of omitted freight and insurance. The error rate exceeds the omission rate because that amount enters two tax bases, not one.

The full stacking structure is covered in the Taiwan import tax guide.

Free shipping does not mean zero freight

Free shipping is a pricing decision, not an absence of cost. Customs applies two rules:

1. Where actual freight can be evidenced, the actual figure is used
2. Where it cannot, freight is imputed from the shipping method and the weight of the goods

Cross-border platforms frequently fold freight into the listed price. Declaring freight as zero to save tax is, in substance, a false declaration.

Whether agent fees count

This is the most contested point for buying agents and consolidators, and the test turns on what the fee is for:

• Buying commission — remuneration paid to your own agent for procuring goods — is generally excluded
• Fees charged by the seller, or forming part of the price of the goods, are included

The practical difficulty is that agents commonly bill a single combined amount with no breakdown. Customs will ask for one, and a taxpayer who cannot substantiate the split usually sees the whole amount treated as the price of the goods.

What happens if the declared value is rejected

Customs does not simply accept the declared value. Where it falls materially below the reasonable range for comparable goods, Customs moves through the statutory valuation sequence — which almost always produces a higher base.

Common triggers:

• A declared value far below contemporaneous imports of similar goods
• A relationship between buyer and seller that may have influenced the price
• Transaction documents that do not support the declared figure

A card charge is not a customs value

Three common gaps between the two:

It may include domestic delivery. Platform shipping charges often cover last-mile delivery inside Taiwan, which is excluded.

It may include platform fees. Some service charges are not part of the goods price.

It may reflect a discount. Whether a discount reduces customs value depends on its nature and whether it was fixed at the time of import.

Use the Taiwan import duty calculator and enter goods price, freight and insurance separately so the value is assembled to the statutory definition.

The exchange rate is not the one you paid

Customs value is expressed in New Taiwan dollars, so a purchase in another currency has to be converted — and the rate used is the one Customs applies, not the rate your card issuer used.

Customs applies a periodically published exchange rate rather than the live market rate on the day you ordered. The consequence is that the NT$ figure Customs works from can differ from the amount on your card statement even when nothing else is in dispute.

Two practical effects:

Near the exemption threshold, the rate matters. A purchase that computes to NT$1,980 at your card's rate may compute to NT$2,020 at the declared rate, which changes a duty-free consignment into a taxed one — assessed on the full amount.

For commercial imports, use the declared rate in costings. Building a landed-cost model on a market rate produces a systematic error in every shipment, small per unit but consistent in direction.

What is deducted rather than added

Some costs commonly assumed to be part of the value are not, provided they are separately identifiable and evidenced:

Cost	Treatment
Post-importation transport within Taiwan	Not included
Post-importation installation, assembly or maintenance	Not included if separately shown
Import duties and taxes themselves	Not included
Buying commission paid to your own agent	Generally not included

The condition is that they are separately identifiable. A single combined invoice with no breakdown gives Customs nothing to deduct, so the whole amount stands as the price of the goods. Ask suppliers to itemise before shipment rather than trying to reconstruct a split afterwards.

Further reading

Once you have the value, you need the rate — see The complete HS Code guide and the Taiwan import tariff tables. For the exemption threshold, see The NT$2,000 de minimis threshold.

Primary source: Customs Act (關稅法), Articles 29 onward on the determination of customs value.

Frequently asked questions

What is customs value?

Customs value (完稅價格) is the price base Customs uses to assess duty. It equals the goods price plus international freight plus insurance, known in trade as CIF. It is not the retail price and not the amount charged to your card.

The seller offered free shipping, so is freight excluded?

Freight is still included. Free shipping is a pricing decision by the seller, not an absence of transport cost. Customs assesses the actual freight paid; where that cannot be evidenced, freight is imputed from the shipping method and weight.

Do agent or buying-service fees count towards customs value?

It depends on their nature. Buying commissions paid to your own agent are generally excluded, while fees that form part of the price paid to the seller are included. In practice agents often invoice a single combined figure, which is exactly what Customs will question.

Can I just use my credit card charge as the customs value?

Not reliably. A card charge may include domestic delivery, platform service fees, or reflect a discount already applied, none of which match the statutory definition. Treat it as a reference and build the value from goods price, freight and insurance.

I did not buy insurance, so is the insurance component zero?

No. Where no policy was purchased, Customs generally imputes an insurance amount as a proportion of the goods price. The figure is small, but it is a statutory component of customs value and cannot be treated as nil.