Customs value: what goes in and what stays out

The customs value of goods imported into the EU starts from the transaction value: the price actually paid or payable when the goods are sold for export to the EU, under Article 70 of the Union Customs Code. Article 71 then adds costs the buyer bears outside that price, including transport and insurance up to the EU border, certain royalties, and materials or tooling the buyer supplied, known as assists. Article 72 lists what stays out. Import VAT is then calculated on the customs value plus duty and onward costs to the first destination.

Customs value is not the invoice total. It is the invoice total adjusted to a fixed legal point: the goods at the EU border.

What is the transaction value?

Article 70(1) sets the primary basis: “the transaction value, that is the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the customs territory of the Union, adjusted, where necessary.”

Article 70(2) defines that price broadly. It is the total payment made or to be made by the buyer to the seller, or to a third party for the seller’s benefit, and includes all payments made as a condition of sale.

The method applies only if four conditions in Article 70(3) are met:

1. No restrictions on the buyer’s disposal or use of the goods, other than those imposed by law, limits on the area of resale, or restrictions that do not substantially affect value.
2. The sale or price is not subject to a condition or consideration whose value cannot be determined.
3. No part of the proceeds of resale or use accrues to the seller, unless an adjustment can be made.
4. The buyer and seller are not related, or the relationship did not influence the price.

The fourth condition matters for groups that sell to their own EU subsidiary. A related-party price can still be used, but the relationship must not have influenced it.

Is freight included in the EU customs value?

Up to the border, yes. Article 71(1)(e) adds “the cost of transport and insurance of the imported goods” and “loading and handling charges associated with the transport of the imported goods”, in both cases “up to the place where goods are brought into the customs territory of the Union.”

Transport after that point is excluded. Article 72(a) leaves out transport costs of the goods after their entry into the customs territory.

The Incoterm on the invoice decides what the price already contains. An ex works price needs all transport to the EU border added. A price delivered to the buyer’s warehouse contains transport beyond the border. Showing that part separately on the invoice makes it easier to leave out. DAP or DDP for shipments into the EU covers how those terms split costs.

Do royalties and licence fees add to customs value?

Some do. Article 71(1)(c) adds “royalties and licence fees related to the goods being valued that the buyer must pay, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of sale of the goods being valued”, to the extent not already in the price.

Two tests carry the weight: the fee relates to the imported goods, and paying it is a condition of the sale. A fee for a trademark printed on the goods, which the seller requires the buyer to pay, may meet both. A fee for something unrelated to the goods, or not linked to buying them, may meet neither.

Some related payments are expressly excluded. Article 72(d) leaves out charges for the right to reproduce the imported goods in the EU. Article 72(g) leaves out payments for the right to distribute or resell the goods, unless they are a condition of the sale for export to the Union.

What is an assist in customs valuation?

An assist is something the buyer supplies, free or at reduced cost, for use in producing or selling the goods for export. Article 71(1)(b) adds its value, “apportioned as appropriate”, to the extent not in the price. It lists four kinds:

• materials, components, parts and similar items incorporated into the goods;
• tools, dies, moulds and similar items used in producing them;
• materials consumed in producing them;
• engineering, development, artwork, design work, plans and sketches undertaken outside the EU and necessary for production.

Assists are easy to miss because they never appear on the supplier’s invoice. A brand that pays for a mould at its factory, or ships its own packaging components there, creates one.

Article 71 also adds commissions and brokerage other than buying commissions, the cost of containers treated as one with the goods, and packing costs, where the buyer bears them outside the price.

What is left out of the customs value?

Article 71(3) closes the list: no additions are made except as that article provides. Article 72 then names what is not included:

Excluded item	Article 72
Transport after entry into the EU customs territory	point (a)
Construction, erection, assembly, maintenance or technical assistance after entry	point (b)
Interest under a written financing arrangement, within conditions	point (c)
Charges for the right to reproduce the goods in the EU	point (d)
Buying commissions	point (e)
Import duties and other charges payable in the EU because of import or sale	point (f)
Payments for distribution or resale rights not required as a condition of sale	point (g)

Article 71(2) adds a discipline for the additions: they are made “only on the basis of objective and quantifiable data.” An estimate the importer cannot support does not meet that test.

What if the transaction value cannot be used?

Article 74 sets the fallback methods, applied in order:

1. the transaction value of identical goods exported at or about the same time;
2. the transaction value of similar goods exported at or about the same time;
3. the deductive method, based on the unit price at which the goods are sold in the EU to unrelated buyers;
4. the computed value, built from the cost of production, profit and general expenses, and transport and insurance to the border.

The importer may ask to reverse the order of the third and fourth methods. Where none works, value is set on data available in the EU, using reasonable means consistent with Article VII of the GATT and the agreement implementing it.

How does customs value affect import VAT?

Directly. Article 85 of the VAT Directive, Directive 2006/112/EC, makes the customs value the taxable amount on importation. Article 86 then adds, where not already included, duties and charges due by reason of importation, excluding VAT itself, and incidental expenses such as transport and insurance “up to the first place of destination within the territory of the Member State of importation.”

That creates a gap worth knowing. Transport from the EU border to the warehouse stays out of the customs value but can enter the VAT base. Import VAT in the return, not at the border covers how that VAT is then accounted for.

A worked example

Suppose a brand imports one shipment of goods into Portugal. All figures are hypothetical, for the mechanics only, and the duty rate is assumed.

Item	EUR	Treatment
Price paid to the factory, free on board at the port of loading	50,000	Transaction value
Sea freight to the EU port	3,000	Added, Article 71(1)(e)
Insurance to the EU port	200	Added, Article 71(1)(e)
Mould supplied by the brand, share apportioned to this shipment	2,000	Added, Article 71(1)(b)
Trademark royalty the factory requires the brand to pay	2,500	Added, Article 71(1)(c)
Buying agent’s commission	1,000	Excluded, Article 72(e)
Customs value	57,700
Duty at an assumed 4 %	2,308
Haulage from the port to the warehouse named as destination	400	Out of customs value, into the VAT base
VAT taxable amount	60,408	57,700 + 2,308 + 400

The mould cost EUR 6,000 and was expected to serve three equal shipments, so EUR 2,000 is apportioned to this one. Portugal’s VAT rate then applies to EUR 60,408.

This is general information, not customs or tax advice. The customs value of a specific import is set by the declarant with the importer’s advisers.

What does EFC contribute to the valuation file?

The declarant sets customs value on each import; EFC does not calculate or advise on it. What EFC can supply are its own records of the logistics it performs in Portugal with its logistics partner, such as haulage to its warehouse and handling on arrival, so the declarant can place each cost on the right side of the border line. Goods then follow the usual route of release for free circulation, with fiscal representation available where a seller needs it.

Sources

Label	Value	Source
Transaction value	price actually paid or payable; definition of price; four conditions	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Article 70, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17
Additions	commissions, containers, packing; assists; royalties as a condition of sale; resale proceeds; transport, insurance and handling to the EU border; objective and quantifiable data; closed list	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Article 71, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17
Exclusions	seven items, points (a) to (g)	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Article 72, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17
Secondary methods	identical, similar, deductive, computed, reasonable means; reversal of (c) and (d) on request	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Article 74, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17
VAT on importation	taxable amount is the customs value	Directive 2006/112/EC, Article 85, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17
VAT additions	duties due by reason of importation; incidental expenses to the first place of destination	Directive 2006/112/EC, Article 86, on legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-07-17