Customs value / CIF planning calculator
For BorderMath's simplified early-stage model, the starting customs value is goods + freight to the UK + insurance. Actual customs valuation can require additions, deductions, valuation methods or apportionment not represented by this mini tool.
What this simplified formula means
“CIF” is useful shorthand for an early purchasing estimate, but UK customs value is a legal valuation concept rather than merely a shipping incoterm. BorderMath keeps this page deliberately narrow: it helps organise the three inputs used by the site's planning model without claiming that every declaration can use that arithmetic unchanged.
Customs value is not the import VAT value
Import VAT can add Customs Duty and qualifying incidental expenses to the customs value. Post-import business costs may belong in landed cost without belonging in the import-VAT base. Use the full calculator to keep those layers separate.
Worked planning example
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Goods | £1,000 |
| Freight | £150 |
| Insurance | £10 |
| Simplified customs value | £1,160 |