How customs duty is calculated in Jordan

Why there is no number on this page

Because any rate written here would be the wrong one for your goods. Duty is set per tariff heading, and the heading follows from the nature of the goods, their composition and their use — not their trade name. The figure can change entirely on the country of origin alone. And beyond all that, the final number is issued by the Customs Department after valuation.

What actually helps you is understanding how the figure is built, because that is the only thing that lets you influence it legitimately: with the right document, an accurate description, and a sound certificate of origin.

1. The tariff heading — the base everything rests on

Every good in the world falls under a heading in the harmonised tariff, and each heading carries its own treatment. The heading is not picked by trade name but by classification: what the item is made of, what it does, how it is used, and sometimes how it is packed.

Getting the heading wrong changes more than the duty — it changes the approvals and testing required, and can turn a routine shipment into one held for a regulator nobody expected. Which is why we start here, not at the declaration.

2. The country of origin — not the country of shipment

Origin is the country the goods were produced in, not the country they were shipped from. Goods made in one country and shipped from another country's port originate in the first, not the second.

Origin matters because Jordan has trade agreements with countries and blocs that grant preferential treatment to goods proven to originate there. Proving it rests on a sound, acceptable certificate of origin — not on the supplier's word, and not on what the invoice alone says. An incomplete certificate, or one not attested where attestation is required, means losing preferential treatment you were legally entitled to.

3. The assessed value

Duty is calculated on value, and the starting point is your invoice value. But customs are not obliged to accept it if something invites doubt, in which case the value is established by a graded series of alternative methods, the nearest being the value of identical or similar goods previously imported.

Elements are also added to the value in the calculation depending on the delivery terms agreed with your supplier — freight and insurance among them. That is why the final cost differs between an FOB invoice and a CIF invoice for the same goods at the same price.

There is more on this in the valuation section of the customs clearance page.

4. General sales tax

Alongside customs duty, general sales tax is collected on imports. It is calculated on a base that includes both the value of the goods and the customs duty — that is, it is worked out after the duty rather than alongside it. That alone explains why the total looks higher than anyone expects who costed the duty on its own.

What you pay besides duty

Duty and tax go to the treasury, but the full landed cost includes other items: port handling, daily storage if the goods linger in the yard, container demurrage owed to the shipping line, regulatory body fees where the goods are tested, and then the brokerage fee. These are itemised on the clearance page.

What legitimately lowers what you pay

• The right tariff heading from the outset. Neither lower than correct nor higher: both cost you, and the second costs twice.
• A complete certificate of origin. If your goods originate in a country with an agreement with Jordan, the sound certificate is what turns that into a real difference in the figure.
• A detailed invoice. Model, specification, quantity, clear delivery terms. A terse invoice weakens your position at valuation for no reason.
• Approvals started early. They do not change the duty, but they prevent storage charges — the one item that can genuinely be taken to zero.
• A carrier booked against the expected release date. For the same reason.

How we give you an estimate

Send us a photo of the invoice, the goods description and the country of origin. We give you an estimate based on the likely tariff heading, the origin and the invoice value, and we show you how it was worked out item by item — not one number with no explanation. And we tell you plainly which part of it is fixed and which depends on a decision outside our hands.