Every country taxes goods that cross its border, and every one of those charges is meant to pay for something. Import duty protects the farms and factories at home. VAT is the ordinary tax on spending, collected at the port instead of the shop till. The surcharge builds the ports your cargo uses. The customs levy runs the service that clears it. The ECOWAS levy funds free trade between West African neighbours.
None of that is explained to the person paying, so the bill lands as a shock and feels like a punishment. This tool exists to change that. Find your product, and it shows you the full bill before you pay your supplier, tells you what each charge is for, and lists the papers and government agencies your shipment will need. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Step 1: find your product
Every product in world trade has an HS code, and that code decides your tax rate. Don't know yours? Type what the item is in your own words (fridge, rice, used car, generator, solar panel), or type the code if you have it.
Loading the tariff table…
Can't find it? Ask your seller for the 6-digit HS code on their export papers, check the official Nigeria Trade Portal tariff search, or just type the rate yourself in Step 2.
Step 2: your shipment
Tap the ? beside any field for a plain-English explanation.
Rates for your product
Step 3: your estimated customs bill
This is an estimate, not a promise. Customs officers can decide your goods belong under a different code, or are worth more than your invoice says, and some products carry extra agency charges or are tax-free under their own rules. Always compare this estimate with the official documents customs sends you: the PAAR (Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, customs' advance calculation of what you will pay) and the assessment notice (the final bill).
Step 4: papers and agencies for this shipment
Read this first
Most of these are pre-shipment requirements, not port paperwork. Your Form M, your SONCAP, your NAFDAC registration and permit, and any plant or animal certificate must all be in place before your supplier loads the goods. They are not things you sort out while the container sits at Apapa.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria puts it plainly: SONCAP is an offshore, pre-shipment scheme and cannot be processed once the consignment has left the country of origin. Regulated goods that arrive without it attract a default charge of 20% of the CIF value or 2 million naira, whichever is higher, and can be detained, tested and destroyed at your expense. Other agencies work the same way: a certificate that can only be issued in the exporting country cannot be created here after arrival.
The rule to remember: if you are only starting the paperwork when the ship arrives, you are already paying a penalty.
Pick a product above and this fills in with the extra certificates your goods need, which government agency issues them, and when each one has to be done. Below is what every Nigerian import needs, whatever it is.
Before shipmentIssued at originAt the port
Tap a heading to open each list.
Before the goods ship
Proforma invoice Before shipmentThe supplier's formal offer: goods, quantity, price, terms. Your bank needs it to open the Form M.
Form M Before shipmentThe government form that registers your import and books the foreign currency. It must be registered with your bank before you place the order, and it is valid for 180 days (365 for plant and machinery).
Insurance certificate Before shipmentCover for the journey, from a Nigerian insurer. Arranged before the goods move, because cover bought after a loss is worth nothing.
Travelling with the goods
Commercial invoice Issued at originThe final bill from your supplier. The figures must match your Form M.
Packing list Issued at originWhat is inside, box by box, with weights. Customs uses it during examination.
Bill of Lading or Air Waybill Issued at originThe transport document. Sea uses a Bill of Lading, air uses an Air Waybill.
CCVO Issued at originCombined Certificate of Value and Origin: the supplier confirming the price is real and where the goods were made.
Manufacturer's certificate Issued at originProof of production or analysis for manufactured and processed goods.
At the port
PAAR At the portPre-Arrival Assessment Report: customs' advance ruling on your code, value and what you will pay. Raised from your Form M and documents before the ship lands, which is why those must already be right.
SGD At the portSingle Goods Declaration: the formal declaration your licensed agent files.
Assessment notice and bank receipt At the portThe official bill and your proof of payment.
Delivery Order At the portThe shipping line's release, given after you settle their charges.
Terminal gate pass At the portThe terminal's release, after storage and handling charges are paid.
When do these permits happen? Stage 3 of the journey below, before your supplier ships. Source for the SONCAP rule and penalty: the Standards Organisation of Nigeria SONCAP FAQ.
Document rules change, and a single shipment can trigger a requirement not listed here. Treat this as your starting checklist, then confirm with your licensed customs agent and the agency itself.
Step 5: could you legally pay less?
Duty is not always the flat number the tariff shows. Nigeria has several legal routes to paying less, paying later, or paying nothing at all. Every one of them is an approval you apply for, not a right you already have, and almost every one has to be in place before the goods arrive.
The mistake that ruins deals is budgeting on a waiver you do not hold yet. If the certificate is not in your hand when the declaration is filed, customs assesses the full amount, and getting money back afterwards is far harder than never overpaying.
Tap any route to see what it takes.
Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC)
Federal Ministry of Finance Before shipment
A written approval that a specific consignment pays no duty, or reduced duty, usually because it belongs to a project or sector the government has chosen to support.
What it takes: Application letter, certificate of incorporation, tax clearance certificate, proforma invoice, your Form M, and a letter of support from the ministry or agency that supervises your sector.
The catch It is an approval, not an entitlement, and it takes time. Never price a deal on an exemption you do not yet hold in writing.
ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS)
National Approvals Committee, in the exporting country Issued at origin
Goods genuinely made inside West Africa can move between ECOWAS countries free of import duty.
What it takes: The producing company and the specific product must both be approved in advance, and an ETLS Certificate of Origin must travel with the goods. That certificate is valid for six months, covers one product only, and names one destination country.
The catch Duty is removed, but VAT and excise still apply. And a certificate obtained after shipment is not accepted, so the exporter must hold it before the goods leave.
Temporary Importation Permit
Nigeria Customs Service Before shipment
For equipment brought in for a job and taken out again: rigs, machinery, exhibition goods, film and survey equipment.
What it takes: An application before arrival, plus a bond or bank guarantee covering the duty that would otherwise be payable.
The catch It is time-limited. Miss the re-export date without an extension and the duty falls due in full, with the guarantee called in.
Bonded warehouse
Nigeria Customs Service, through a licensed warehouse At the port
Duty is not removed but delayed. Goods sit in a customs-controlled warehouse and duty falls due only as you take them out.
What it takes: A licensed bonded warehouse and a customs bond.
The catch Useful for cash flow, not for saving tax. You still pay storage, and the clock on the goods keeps running.
Free zones
NEPZA, or OGFZA for oil and gas zones Before shipment
Goods brought into a licensed free zone are treated as outside the customs territory, so duty is suspended while they stay there.
What it takes: The importer must be a registered free zone enterprise, and movement in and out is controlled by the zone authority.
The catch The moment goods leave the zone into Nigeria proper, they are an import like any other and duty is assessed then.
Returning resident concession
Nigeria Customs Service Before shipment
Used personal and household effects belonging to someone relocating to Nigeria can normally come in free of duty.
What it takes: Passport evidence of the time spent abroad, and a detailed inventory of the goods, which must be used items you already owned.
The catch Vehicles are not personal effects, and new items in their retail packaging are treated as ordinary imports.
Rates already set at zero in the tariff
Written into the CET schedule itself At the port
Some goods simply carry 0% duty: books and educational materials, fertiliser, many medicines and medical items, agricultural machinery, solar cells and computers.
What it takes: Nothing extra. The rate is the rate, and this calculator shows it when you pick the product.
The catch A 0% duty rate does not mean a free shipment. VAT, the FCS levy, the ECOWAS levy, port and shipping charges all still apply.
Exemption and waiver policy changes with each budget and each administration, and some routes are sector-specific (oil and gas, power, agriculture, health) with their own supervising ministry. Confirm the current position with the issuing body before you rely on any of this. Sources for the routes above: the Federal Ministry of Finance and the ECOWAS ETLS.
The journey of your shipment, stage by stage
Nine stages, from the day you agree a price with your supplier to the day the goods reach your warehouse. Each one has its own people, its own paperwork and its own way of costing you money.
Most money is lost between the stages rather than inside them, which is why it helps to see the whole line at once. The strip below is the short version; the cards give you the detail and the warning for each stage.
Tap any stage to open it.
1Before you pay the seller→2Open your Form M at the bank→3Get your product permits→4Your supplier ships the goods→5Customs issues your PAAR→6The cargo arrives→7Declare and pay→8Examination and release→9Take delivery
1
Before you pay the seller
You, your supplier, a licensed customs agent
Agree the price, get the product code in writing, and check that the goods are allowed into Nigeria at all. This is the cheapest moment to find a problem.
Watch out Skip it and you can pay for goods that are banned, or budget on the wrong tax rate.
2
Open your Form M at the bank
You and your bank, with the Central Bank of Nigeria behind it
The Form M is the form that registers your import with the government and books the foreign currency to pay your supplier. Nothing legal moves without it.
Watch out Goods that arrive with no Form M are stuck, and regularising it later is slow and expensive.
3
Get your product permits
SON, NAFDAC, NAQS, NCC, NESREA, ONSA: whichever your product needs
This is where the agencies in Step 4 above come in, and almost all of it must happen BEFORE the goods sail. SONCAP is inspected and issued in the supplier's country. NAFDAC wants the product registered, not just the importer. Plant and animal certificates are issued at origin and cannot be created later. Telecoms kit needs NCC type approval for that exact model.
Watch out These are pre-shipment requirements, not port paperwork. SON charges a SONCAP default of 20% of the CIF value or 2 million naira, whichever is higher, on regulated goods that arrive without a certificate, and the cargo can be detained, tested and destroyed at your expense. Certificates that can only be issued at origin cannot be created here at all.
4
Your supplier ships the goods
Supplier, shipping line or airline, your freight forwarder
You receive the transport document: a Bill of Lading for sea, an Air Waybill for air. It is the receipt for your cargo and, at sea, the document of title.
Watch out Wrong details on it (name, address, quantity) mean corrections, delay and fees later.
5
Customs issues your PAAR
Nigeria Customs Service
The PAAR is customs telling you, before the ship lands, what code they accept and what you will pay. This is the moment your estimate becomes a real number.
Watch out If their code differs from yours, your budget changes. Better to know now than at the gate.
The vessel is discharged and your container sits in the terminal. The free days start counting from here, and so does the money.
Watch out Every day past the free days costs storage to the terminal and demurrage to the shipping line.
7
Declare and pay
Your licensed customs agent, customs, your bank
Your agent files the declaration (the SGD) using your documents. Customs raises the assessment, and you pay duty, levies and VAT at the bank.
Watch out Wrong or missing papers here is the single most common cause of a stuck container.
8
Examination and release
Customs, plus SON, NAFDAC or quarantine where they apply
Customs checks the cargo, by scanner or by opening it. Where your product is regulated, the agency joins that examination and their certificate from stage 3 is what they look for. If everything matches your declaration, they release it.
Watch out A mismatch between paper and cargo can mean a query, a fine, or seizure.
9
Take delivery
Shipping line, terminal, your haulier
You pay the shipping line and terminal their charges, collect the Delivery Order, and truck the goods to your warehouse. Empty containers go back to earn your deposit refund.
Watch out Late return of the empty container quietly eats the deposit you already paid.
Tap a heading to read it.
What is an HS code, and why does it decide your bill?
Think of the HS code as a product's passport number. Every country's customs uses the same first six digits to describe the same thing, so a laptop is 8471.30 in Lagos, London and Shanghai. Nigeria adds four more digits of its own to be precise, which is why the codes in the search above are ten digits long. The reason it matters: customs does not tax "your goods", it taxes the code. Each code sits in a band (0%, 5%, 10%, 20% or 35%), and some codes carry extra levies, excise duty, or a ban on importing at all.
Three ways to find yours, from easiest to surest. One: type the product name in the search box above. Two: ask your seller. Their export declaration or commercial invoice usually shows the 6-digit code, and their code is a strong hint for yours. Three: for anything large, have a licensed customs agent classify it, and get it in writing before you pay the supplier.
The trap almost everyone falls into: CKD versus fully built
Look closely at the search results for cars, fridges or televisions and you will see the same product twice at very different rates. One line says CKD (Completely Knocked Down: the item shipped in pieces for assembly in Nigeria, by a registered manufacturer) and carries about 5%. The other says fully built and carries 20% or 35%. If you are importing a finished product, the fully built line is yours. Picking the CKD rate because it looks better is how an importer ends up with a debit note and a stalled container.
How the bill is built, explained simply
Imagine customs looking at your shipment and asking one question: "what did it really cost to get these goods to Nigeria?" They add up three things (the price of the goods, the shipping cost, and the insurance) and turn it into naira. That total is called the CIF value (Cost + Insurance + Freight; customs also calls it the "statistical value"). Almost everything else is charged on top of it.
Then the charges stack up, one by one. The FCS charge (the 4% charge on the goods price, FOB, introduced under the Customs Act 2023 and shown as FCS on the official government calculator; it has been suspended and reinstated more than once, so confirm whether it applies to your shipment today). The import duty (your product code's percentage, applied to the CIF value). A surcharge (an extra 7%, charged on the duty itself, that goes towards developing the ports). The ETLS levy (ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, a small 0.5% charge that funds West African regional trade). Any extra levy your product carries. And finally VAT (Value Added Tax, 7.5%). But here is the trick most people miss: VAT is not charged on your goods alone. It is charged on the CIF value plus all the other charges. Tax on top of tax. That is why the final bill is always bigger than people expect.
Two warnings from real shipments I have studied. First: write the real shipping cost on your customs papers, the exact amount on your transport document. If customs later finds the true figure was higher, they send you an extra bill (called a debit note) that can wipe out your savings. Second: find out your product's code before you buy the goods. Two believable codes for the same product can carry very different tax rates. On a big shipment, that difference alone can turn a profit into a loss.
Where these rates come from
The search box uses Nigeria's Common External Tariff schedule, the same list of codes and rates customs works from. I have added plain-English keywords so you can find things by the words you actually use. Two honest warnings. Tariff schedules are revised, and government levies change with policy, so treat every rate here as a well-informed starting point rather than a ruling. And where a line is marked VAT status not stated, the source schedule left the VAT column blank and this tool has made a sensible assumption; check it before you rely on it.
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