How are Colombian import taxes calculated?

Colombia charges arancel (customs duty) as a percentage of the CIF value, then IVA (VAT) on the CIF value plus the duty. So IVA is levied on a base that already includes the duty, which is why the two cannot simply be added — the duty raises the IVA base.

What is the IVA rate on imports?

The general IVA rate is 19% and applies to most imported goods. Some products carry a reduced 5% rate, and a few are exempt or excluded. Enter the rate that matches your product; the calculator applies it to the CIF-plus-duty base.

What duty rate applies to my product?

The arancel depends on the product's HS tariff classification and ranges roughly from 0% to 20%, with many consumer goods at 5%, 10% or 15%. Free-trade agreements can reduce it to 0% for qualifying origin. Look up your HS code in the Colombian tariff schedule and enter that rate.

What is the CIF value?

CIF stands for Cost, Insurance and Freight — the price of the goods plus the insurance and shipping cost to bring them to Colombia. Customs uses CIF, not the bare product price, as the base for duty, so include freight and insurance for an accurate estimate.

Does this include all charges?

No. It covers the two main levies — arancel and IVA. Real imports may also incur customs-broker fees, port and handling charges, the 4x1000 financial-transaction tax on payments, and antidumping or safeguard duties on specific goods. Treat the result as the core tax estimate.

Why does a 0% FTA rate save more than just the duty?

Because IVA is calculated on the CIF-plus-duty base, removing the duty also removes the IVA that would have been charged on it. On a 10% arancel with 19% IVA, the preferential rate saves 11.9 points of effective tax, not 10 — provided the goods have a valid certificate of origin.

Can customs reject my declared CIF value?

Yes. DIAN maintains reference prices for goods that are frequently under-declared, such as clothing, footwear, and electronics. If your declared value falls below the reference, customs can liquidate duty and IVA on the higher reference value, so keep purchase invoices and freight documents to defend your CIF.

What is the Colombia Import Duty & Customs Calculator?

Applies Colombia's import structure: arancel (customs duty) on the CIF value, then 19% IVA on CIF plus duty, to compute total taxes and the full landed cost of imported goods, in COP. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Colombia Import Duty & Customs Calculator

Name: Colombia Import Duty & Customs Calculator
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A Colombia import duty and customs calculator that turns the CIF value of imported goods into a full landed cost. It applies the arancel (customs duty) and then IVA on the correct base, so you can see the total tax and what the goods really cost once they clear customs — all in pesos.

How Colombian import taxes stack

Colombia stacks two main levies, and the order matters because IVA is charged on a base that already includes the duty:

duty (arancel) = CIF × dutyRate
IVA base       = CIF + duty
IVA            = IVA base × ivaRate
total tax      = duty + IVA
landed cost    = CIF + total tax

The CIF value is the goods price plus insurance and freight to Colombia — customs uses this, not the bare product price. The arancel depends on the product’s HS classification (commonly 0–20%), and the IVA is 19% for most goods, with 5% or exemptions for some. Because the duty inflates the IVA base, the effective tax is slightly more than the two rates added together.

Worked example

Import goods with a CIF of COP 10,000,000, a 10% arancel and 19% IVA:

Duty: 10,000,000 × 10% = COP 1,000,000
IVA base: 10,000,000 + 1,000,000 = COP 11,000,000
IVA: 11,000,000 × 19% = COP 2,090,000
Total tax: COP 3,090,000; landed cost: COP 13,090,000

Note that if you simply added the two rates (10% + 19% = 29%), you would expect COP 2,900,000 in tax — but the real figure is COP 3,090,000, about 6.5% more, because the IVA is calculated on the duty-inclusive base.

How to find your arancel rate

The arancel for a specific product is determined by its HS tariff code (Código Arancelario). To look it up:

Identify your product’s HS code — typically 10 digits in Colombia.
Search DIAN’s MUISCA portal or the SIEX trade statistics system.
Check whether a free-trade agreement with the origin country reduces the rate to 0% or a lower preferential rate. Colombia has FTAs with the EU, United States, Canada, South Korea, and several other countries.

Common duty ranges (for illustrative purposes, not authoritative):

Basic raw materials: often 0%–5%
Consumer electronics: typically 0%–15%
Textiles and clothing: often 10%–20%
Agricultural products: varies widely; some with seasonal or safeguard duties

Effective tax burden at each duty tier

Because IVA compounds on the duty, the effective total tax rate climbs faster than the arancel alone. On the COP 10,000,000 CIF example with 19% IVA:

Arancel	Duty	IVA (on CIF + duty)	Total tax	Effective rate
0%	0	1,900,000	1,900,000	19.0%
5%	500,000	1,995,000	2,495,000	25.0%
10%	1,000,000	2,090,000	3,090,000	30.9%
15%	1,500,000	2,185,000	3,685,000	36.9%
20%	2,000,000	2,280,000	4,280,000	42.8%

Every 5 points of arancel adds roughly 6 points of effective tax once the IVA compounding is included. This is also why securing an FTA preferential rate of 0% matters more than it first appears: it removes not just the duty but the IVA charged on the duty.

Situations that change the calculation

Low-value courier shipments. Colombia operates a de minimis regime for postal and courier imports (around the USD 200 mark) under which duty — and, for qualifying origins, IVA — may not apply. The rules have shifted several times by decree and differ by origin country, so verify the current treatment with DIAN before pricing a low-value import business around it.
Reference prices and undervaluation. DIAN maintains reference values for frequently under-declared goods (clothing, footwear, electronics). If your declared CIF is below the reference, customs can assess taxes on the higher value — the calculator’s output is only as good as a defensible CIF.
Used goods and personal effects. Used machinery often needs prior import licensing, and traveller/personal-effects allowances follow a separate regime — neither is a plain CIF × rate calculation.
FTA origin must be documented. A preferential 0% rate requires a valid certificate of origin; goods merely shipped from an FTA partner do not qualify if they originate elsewhere.

Charges not included in this calculator

Real imports may also carry:

Customs broker fees (agente aduanero): typically a percentage of CIF plus fixed costs
Port and handling charges (gastos portuarios): loading, unloading, warehousing at the port
4x1000 (GMF): a financial-transaction tax on payments
Antidumping or safeguard duties: on specific products where Colombia has imposed additional measures

For a precise landed cost, add these charges to the calculator’s output. Treat the result as the core import-tax estimate rather than the total cost of importing.

Sources and references

DIAN — customs and the MUISCA / arancel lookup — the arancel (customs duty) by HS code and the IVA base rule
Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo (MinCIT) — free-trade agreements that can reduce the arancel to a preferential rate
WTO Tariff Download Facility — cross-check applied tariff rates by country and product

Maintained by the Gera Tools editorial team. IVA is charged on the CIF-plus-duty base (so the two rates cannot simply be added); the general IVA is 19% but the arancel depends on your HS code and any FTA — look up the exact rate in the Colombian tariff schedule. Core import-tax estimate only. Last reviewed 2026-07-02.