Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about how the estimate works.
Cannot find your answer? Contact us
Quick answers about how the estimate works.
Cannot find your answer? Contact us
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CIF is the Cost, Insurance and Freight: the price of the vehicle plus the insurance and shipping to Sri Lanka. Import duty is worked out on this value. It is usually on the invoice or the bill of lading.
Excise duty from Extraordinary Gazettes 2418/43, 2421/42 and 2434/04 (2025), luxury tax from 2421/41 and 2434/05, customs import duty of 30% with the temporary 50% surcharge on that duty (16 May to 31 December 2026, Extraordinary Gazette 2501/88), and SSCL on vehicle imports from 1 May 2026. Every result shows the version of the rates it used.
Following the Sri Lanka Customs CusDec, the VAT base is the CIF value plus a 10% PAL uplift, the customs import duty, the surcharge and the excise duty. Luxury tax is not part of the VAT base.
Customs assesses the CIF value itself, uses its own exchange rate on the day of clearance and classifies the vehicle. A small difference is normal, and a large one usually means a different CIF assessment or tax class.
The age of the vehicle in years at the time of import, counted from the date of first registration or manufacture as the gazette requires for its class. Some classes do not depend on age and will not ask for it.
For foreign currency, the result uses the live rate from a public source and shows where it came from and its date. If that is unavailable it uses a saved rate and says so. You can always enter your own rate. Customs uses its own rate on the day of clearance.
A few special-purpose classes, such as crane trucks and concrete mixers, have no excise rate in our rate table. The result shows a warning in that case, and you should check the figure with a clearing agent.
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