Landed Cost Calculator Kenya 2026

What landed cost means

The landed cost of goods is the total you spend to get them from the supplier to your door, including taxes. Buying at a low price abroad is not a saving if shipping, duty and clearing charges more than cancel it. Importers use landed cost to set selling prices, compare suppliers and decide whether an import is worth it at all.

What goes into it

The calculator adds the following:

• The price of the goods.
• Freight and insurance to Kenya. Together with the price this gives the CIF value on which customs charges are calculated.
• Import duty at the rate you enter. Use the tariff or your agent's quote to choose it.
• VAT at 16% on CIF plus duty.
• Import Declaration Fee and Railway Development Levy, shown in the rates table on this page.
• Port, warehouse and clearing charges, which are costs charged by the port, shipping line and clearing agent.
• Local transport from the port or warehouse to you.

If you enter a number of units, the calculator also shows the cost per unit, which is the number to compare with your selling price.

A worked example

Goods priced at KES 100,000 with KES 10,000 of freight, a 25% duty rate, KES 5,000 of port and clearing charges and KES 3,000 of transport give a total landed cost of KES 174,700.00. Spread over ten units, that is KES 17,470.00 per unit.

VAT is often recoverable

If you are VAT-registered and the goods are for resale, the VAT paid at import is input VAT that you can generally claim back on your monthly return. In that case the true cost is lower than the figure shown, and you should price your goods without it. If you are not registered, or the goods are for private use, the VAT is a real cost.

Costs people forget

• Storage and demurrage if the goods are not cleared within the free days allowed.
• Inspection and standards fees, for example for goods that need a certificate of conformity.
• Bank charges and exchange rate movements between the order and the payment date.
• Insurance that covers the goods after they reach Kenya.
• Breakage and shrinkage, which affect the cost of each usable unit.

Using the result

Compare your landed cost per unit with the price at which you can sell. Test more than one scenario: a different supplier, a different shipping method, a larger order with a lower per-unit freight cost, or goods with a different duty rate. Because duty is charged on CIF, higher freight also raises the tax.

Limits

The duty rate is whatever you enter, so check it against the tariff. The calculator does not include excise duty, special levies for particular products or the cost of money while goods are in transit. The IDF and RDL values are held as editable rates and are marked unverified until checked. This is an estimate for information only, so ask your clearing agent for a formal quotation.

Using landed cost to set a price

Once you know the cost per unit, add your overheads, such as rent, staff and marketing, and your desired profit margin to reach a selling price. Check the result against competitors: if you cannot sell at that price, look for savings in freight, in the duty classification or in a larger order. Remember to price for goods you may not sell, because stock that is damaged or expires has already absorbed duty. Update the calculation whenever the exchange rate, freight rate or tax rate changes.

If you import regularly, build a small spreadsheet with one row per shipment and the same columns as the result above. After a few shipments you will see which costs vary most, such as freight and clearing, and you can negotiate with the agent or consolidate orders to bring them down.

Guides, tools and templates for this topic

Read next: How much does it cost to import a car to Kenya? Duty, VAT and fees explained, VAT for small businesses in Kenya: when to register and what to charge, How to keep business records for KRA: what to save and for how long

Related calculators: Import Duty Calculator for Goods, Car Import Duty Calculator, VAT Calculator

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