Business & Corporate · Customs · Used vehicles
Car Import Duty Calculator
Duty is assessed on a depreciated value, not on what you paid. Work through the stack with the rates that apply to your vehicle.
Step by step
How the assessment works
Start from CIF
Vehicle value plus freight and insurance.
Deduct depreciation
An allowance per month of age, up to a cap — this gives the assessed value.
Stack the duties
Customs and regulatory duty on the assessed value, then sales tax, then income tax.
Add any fixed band amount
Used cars are often charged a set figure per engine-capacity band.
Reading the result
Depreciation is allowed, but on customs' terms
Duty is assessed on a depreciated value, not on what you paid a dealer abroad. The allowance follows a prescribed scale by age, so a car's assessed value is a formula output rather than a negotiation.
That cuts both ways: a genuinely cheap purchase does not reduce the duty, and a car bought above market does not increase it. The invoice is largely beside the point.
Engine capacity drives the rates
Bands work on displacement, which is why a large-engine older car can attract more duty than a newer small-engine one worth considerably more. For anyone choosing between models to import, the capacity band matters more to the landed cost than the purchase price does.
The duty is not the last payment
After clearance come registration, number plates, the advance tax at registration and provincial token tax. A budget that stops at the customs stack is short by a meaningful amount before the car is legally on the road.
The vehicle registration tax calculator covers that stage.
Where this stops
Import of used vehicles runs through specific schemes with their own eligibility conditions and their own limits on age and entitlement. This works out a duty stack from rates you supply; it does not establish that a particular import is permitted.
FAQs
Car import duty FAQs
Is duty charged on what I paid for the car?
No — and this is the single biggest misunderstanding. Customs assesses a value of its own, starting from the CIF value and applying a depreciation allowance for the vehicle's age. Duties then stack on that assessed value. A bargain purchase price does not reduce the duty if customs assesses the vehicle higher.
How does the depreciation allowance work?
An allowance accrues for each month since manufacture, up to a maximum. So an older vehicle is assessed lower and attracts less duty — but only until the cap is reached, after which further age adds nothing. Both the monthly rate and the cap are entered above because they have been revised.
Why do I have to enter every rate myself?
Because vehicle import duty is genuinely not a single percentage. It varies by engine capacity band and vehicle type, is revised frequently, and for used cars customs often works from a fixed dollar figure per band rather than a percentage at all. A hardcoded table would be wrong for most vehicles within months. This calculator gives you the correct structure and stacking order; you supply the current figures from the tariff or your clearing agent.
What is the fixed-amount field for?
Where customs applies a fixed duty figure for your engine-capacity band instead of, or on top of, percentage rates, enter it there so it feeds into the total. That is common for used-car imports.
Are there schemes that change the position?
Yes. Transfer of residence, gift and baggage schemes each carry their own eligibility conditions, limits on frequency, and different treatment — and they are policed closely. Whether you qualify materially changes the cost, so confirm your route before committing.
What else will I pay beyond this?
Port charges, clearing agent fees, inland transport, and then provincial registration and token tax once the vehicle is yours. Advance tax on registration under Section 231B also applies — see the Vehicle Registration Advance Tax Calculator.
Can I import any used car?
No. Pakistan restricts the age of importable used vehicles, and the limit differs by vehicle category and by the scheme used. Check the current policy before buying abroad — an over-age vehicle can be refused entry or penalised.
Related tools
Registering the vehicle next?
Advance tax applies at registration under Section 231B.
Open Vehicle Advance Tax Calculator