Customs clearance calculator for cars from the USA
Import duty, excise tax and VAT — together with the lot, Copart or IAAI fees, ocean freight and delivery to your city. One turnkey calculation that updates with every field.
1Lot
Auction
DocumentNon-Clean is a salvage title; it has its own fee schedule.
State
Yard
Cargo insurancePercentage of the lot price including auction fees.
2Car
Body type
Fuel
Engine size, cm³
Year of manufactureThe actual year, not the model year — the excise tax depends on it.
3Delivery and payment
Region
City
Payment method
Mandatory paymentsBoth are part of the first registration. Turn them off only if this deal does not include them.
What the turnkey price of a car from the USA is made of
The lot price is less than half of what you will pay. The rest is made up of payments that become visible only at the end, and the calculator shows exactly these as separate lines, not as one “turnkey” figure. You can calculate them in advance: none of them is made up, and below we explain what each one depends on.
Lot and auction fees
The winning bid for the lot plus the auction’s own fees: the buyer fee, the internet fee and the gate fee for leaving the yard. They depend on the lot price and the type of documents for the car — a lot with a clean title costs less in fees than a salvage one.
Delivery to port and ocean freight
Transport from the yard to a US port and ocean freight to a European port, from where the car goes on to Ukraine. It depends on the state, the body type and the distance to the port. This also includes cargo insurance if you chose it.
Customs clearance
Import duty, excise tax and VAT are three payments whose rates are set by law and are the same for all importers. How they are calculated is explained below.
Pension fund fee and certification
One-time payments at the first registration in Ukraine: the pension fund fee at a rate of 3–5% of the customs value and a mandatory certificate of conformity.
Forwarding, broker and service
Our work: organizing transport, customs clearance support and assistance with the deal. This is the only part of the total that is set by the company, not by law or the auction.
Delivery within Ukraine
From Kyiv to your city, based on the actual distance. For long-wheelbase or double-cab pickups it costs more, because such a vehicle takes up more space on the car carrier.
How customs clearance for a car from the USA is calculated
Customs clearance is not one payment but three, and they are calculated in sequence: each next one includes the previous one in its base. So a mistake in the excise tax automatically spoils the VAT as well, and a mistake in the customs value spoils all three.
Import duty — 10%
Ten percent of the customs value: the car price plus the cost of delivery to the Ukrainian border. For an electric car the duty is zero — except for a cargo van, which is not considered a passenger car.
Excise tax
Calculated by the formula: engine size in liters × age of the car × rate in euros. The rate is €50 for gasoline up to 3000 cm³ and €100 above that, €75 for diesel up to 3500 cm³ and €150 above that. For an old car with a large engine, this is the largest of the three payments.
VAT — 20%
Twenty percent, but not of the car price: the VAT base is the customs value together with the import duty and excise tax already charged. That is why VAT is always higher than expected when people calculate it from the lot price.
What customs value is and why it is not equal to the lot price
The base for import duty and VAT is not the amount you paid at the auction. The cost of delivery to the Ukrainian border is added to it, so the customs value is always higher than the lot price. And this is the part of the calculation that customs has the right to review: if the declared value seems too low, customs can value the car using its own data — prices of similar deals or reference catalogs. That is exactly why the calculator total is preliminary even when all the rates are applied perfectly.
Car age is not counted the way it seems
For excise tax, age is counted in full years starting from the year following the year of manufacture. A 2020 car cleared through customs in 2026 is 5 years old, not 6. The minimum is one year even for last year’s car, the maximum is fifteen: above this limit the excise tax no longer grows, so a 2005 car and a 1998 car are equal on this line.
The second trap is the year itself. For American cars, the model year is often one more than the actual year: a car made in the fall of 2019 is sold as a 2020 model. Enter the actual year, from the documents: a one-year mistake shifts two lines of the calculation at once — both the excise tax and the VAT, which is calculated from the total including excise.
Customs clearance table for cars from the USA: excise tax by engine size and age
Excise tax is the only one of the three payments that does not depend on the car price, so it can be shown in a table. Values are in euros, by the formula “liters × age × rate”. Import duty and VAT are not included here: they are calculated from the customs value, so every car has its own.
Excise tax in euros by engine size and car age
Engine
1 year
5 years
10 years
15 years or more
Gasoline 1.6
80 €
400 €
800 €
1,200 €
Gasoline 2.0
100 €
500 €
1,000 €
1,500 €
Gasoline 2.5
125 €
625 €
1,250 €
1,875 €
Gasoline 3.0
150 €
750 €
1,500 €
2,250 €
Gasoline 3.5
350 €
1,750 €
3,500 €
5,250 €
Diesel 2.0
150 €
750 €
1,500 €
2,250 €
Diesel 3.0
225 €
1,125 €
2,250 €
3,375 €
Diesel 4.0
600 €
3,000 €
6,000 €
9,000 €
The jump between the “Gasoline 3.0” and “Gasoline 3.5” rows is not a mistake but a threshold: above 3000 cm³ the rate doubles from €50 to €100 per liter. For diesel, the same threshold is at 3500 cm³. That is why a 3.2-liter engine costs more in excise tax than a 2.9-liter one — not ten percent more, but twice as much. Rates are valid as of July 30, 2026.
Customs clearance of an electric car from the USA in 2026
Electric cars pay VAT — since January 1, 2026
The VAT exemption for importing electric cars was canceled, not extended: it was valid until December 31, 2025. Since then, an electric car pays the full 20%. Import duty remains zero, and the excise tax is calculated from the battery capacity — €1 for each kWh, regardless of the car’s age. Electric cars do not pay the pension fund fee. Calculations that show an electric car as tax-free rely on a rule that no longer exists.
How much customs clearance costs for a hybrid from the USA
The same as for a regular car with the same engine: a hybrid is calculated by the size of its gasoline or diesel engine and by its age, using the same formula. A separate rate for hybrids does exist, but it applies to just four product codes of the Ukrainian customs classification (UKTZED), and a regular gasoline or diesel hybrid does not fall under them.
For an electric car, the calculator asks for the battery capacity instead of the engine size precisely because the excise tax is calculated from it. A 75 kWh battery gives €75 of excise tax — both on last year’s car and on a ten-year-old one: there is no age multiplier here at all. The main amount for an electric car is now the VAT, not the excise tax, so since 2026 the difference in customs clearance between an electric and a gasoline car of the same value is no longer as large as it used to be.
Certification and registration of a car from the USA in Ukraine
Paying the taxes is not the same as registering the car. Between customs and the first registration there are two more steps, and both are worth knowing before you place a bid.
Certificate of conformity
Mandatory for every car imported for the first time. It confirms that the car meets Ukrainian technical requirements. It is issued after customs clearance, as a separate payment — it has its own line in the calculation.
Emission class
For cars from the USA, this is almost always a question of documents, not of the car itself: US standards are different, and the class has to be confirmed by the year of manufacture and trim. The restriction mainly affects old diesels.
First registration
At the MIA service center, after certification. This is the step where the pension fund fee is paid — 3, 4 or 5% of the customs value. Electric cars and motorcycles do not pay it.
Questions about customs clearance for cars from the USA
Why does the calculator ask for the state and the auction yard?+
Because delivery from the yard to the port is the most variable part of the calculation, and it is calculated for a specific “yard — port” pair, not at an average price for the country. A lot in New Jersey travels a few dozen miles to the port, a lot in Utah travels across half the country. In some states, Copart and CrashedToys also add a gate fee for leaving the yard. For Canadian lots the calculation is different: there are separate freight surcharges, but motorcycles get a reduced import duty under the free trade agreement.
What does cargo insurance give you, and is it worth taking?+
It covers damage to or loss of the car in transit — from loading into the container to unloading at the port. The calculator has two levels: basic at 0.6% and full at 0.9% of the lot amount with fees. On a car worth 15 thousand, that is a difference of about fifty dollars against the risk of losing the whole amount: sea transport is insured not because containers often sink, but because when it happens, there is no one to compensate you.
How does a clean title lot differ from a salvage one in the calculation?+
In the auction fees. Copart and IAAI have separate fee schedules for cars with a clean title and with a salvage title, and at the same lot price they give different amounts — that is why the calculator has a switch for it, not a field. The title does not affect the taxes at all: import duty, excise tax and VAT are calculated from the customs value and engine size, not from the car’s history. But it strongly affects the resale price later.
How much does customs clearance cost for a motorcycle from the USA?+
Noticeably less than for a car, and it is calculated differently: the excise tax for a motorcycle is a rate per cubic centimeter, with no age multiplier. €0.062 per cm³ up to 500 cm³, €0.443 from 501 to 800 cm³ and €0.447 above 800 cm³. So a one-liter motorcycle gives about €447 of excise tax, whether it is last year’s model or twenty years old. Motorcycles do not pay the pension fund fee, and for Canadian lots the import duty is 5% instead of 10%.
What is the pension fund fee, and who does not pay it?+
It is a fee for mandatory state pension insurance, paid once — at the first registration of the car in Ukraine. The rate is 3, 4 or 5% depending on the customs value: the more expensive the car, the higher the percentage. Electric cars and motorcycles do not pay it, so their calculation has no such line.
Why does the total change when I change the payment method?+
Because different transfer methods cost different amounts, and we show this as a separate line instead of hiding it in the total. Paying by card or in cash costs more than USDT, and a bank transfer to a company is calculated at two rates — one for the goods and one for the services.
Is delivery to my city included?+
Yes, if you chose the region and city — the last line of the calculation is exactly that. The cost is calculated from Kyiv by the actual distance, not from a price list for each city. For long-wheelbase or double-cab pickups, delivery costs more: such a vehicle takes up more space on the car carrier.
How accurate is the total?+
All tax rates in the calculator are set by law and are the same for all importers, so the formula is the same one customs uses. The base may differ: customs has the right to value the car using its own data if it considers the declared value too low. That is why this is a preliminary calculation — a manager confirms the exact amount for a specific lot.
Send the calculation to a manager: we will check the specific lot, refine the amount based on its actual customs value and take care of the bidding, delivery and customs clearance assistance.