The most common unpleasant surprise in importing is not fraud or shipwreck — it’s the duty bill. Not because Nigerian duties are secret, but because “the duty” is actually a stack of five or six charges, and quoting only the headline rate understates the real cost by half. Here is the stack, in plain language.
The layers of the landed-cost stack
- Import duty — the headline rate, set by your product’s HS code. Commonly 5–35%: lower for raw materials and machinery, higher for finished consumer goods.
- Levies — product-dependent additions on top of duty (some categories carry supplementary levies designed to protect local industry; these can be substantial).
- VAT at 7.5% — charged not on the goods alone but on goods + freight + insurance + duty. A percentage of a bigger number than most first-timers expect.
- Statutory small percents — ETLS (ECOWAS levy, 0.5%) and CISS (1%) on assessed value.
- Port and clearance costs — terminal handling, shipping-line charges, agency fees; and demurrage if clearance drags. Not taxes, but very much part of landed cost.
The HS code decides everything
The Harmonised System code — the international classification of your product — determines the duty rate, the levies, and whether permits apply. Two rules from painful experience:
- Classify honestly. A “creative” HS code that shaves duty is a false economy: PAAR queries, reassessment, penalties and weeks of delay cost more than the duty ever would.
- Classify early. The duty rate belongs in your costing before you order, not after the vessel sails. It can change a product from profitable to pointless.
A worked example
Goods worth $10,000, freight and insurance $1,500, product carrying a 20% duty rate:
- Assessed value (CIF): $11,500
- Import duty at 20%: $2,300
- ETLS 0.5% + CISS 1%: $172
- VAT 7.5% on (CIF + duty): $1,035
- Clearance, terminal and delivery (typical range): $800–1,200
Real landed cost: roughly $15,800–16,200 — the $10,000 order costs about 60% more by the time it’s on your shelf. Nothing went wrong in this example; this is the working maths. Importers who plan with it price correctly; importers who discover it at the port write angry posts about “hidden charges” that were never hidden.
The takeaway rule
Before any order: get the HS code, apply the full stack, and put the result — not the factory price — into your business case. Every quotation we issue shows this stack itemised, because the only good surprise in importing is no surprise. If you want a landed-cost estimate for a product you’re considering, that’s a fifteen-minute conversation and it’s free.