Import & Compliance

Used iPhone Import Duties by Country 2026: A Wholesale Buyer's Reference

Ask ten importers what blocks a shipment and most will name duty. On smartphones, duty is usually the smallest line in the stack. The consumption tax, the customs value a broker accepts, the conformity paperwork and the days stock sits at port decide whether a lot of pre-owned iPhones makes money.

Duty is usually the smallest line

Smartphones classify under HS heading 8517.13, a line most countries treat as consumer electronics rather than a protected domestic industry. Under most-favoured-nation schedules that means duty at or near zero, and in some blocs zero outright. Anchoring a landed cost on the duty rate is optimising the wrong variable. Three lines matter more.

Import VAT or GST, charged on customs value plus duty. It is the largest single charge in most markets, and it is recoverable only if you are registered in the destination country.
Fixed charges: broker fees, terminal handling, conformity certificates, inland transport and demurrage. On a trial order these can exceed duty outright.
Capital cost: cash tied up in a deposit and in VAT while the goods move — real on a long sea leg, and usually ignored in quotes.

A market with a nominal 0% duty can therefore be more expensive to land into than one charging 10%, because of VAT mechanics, minimum valuation and inspection regimes.

The formula to run before you quote

Establish the customs value — in most jurisdictions CIF: goods, freight and insurance.
Apply the duty rate; then apply import VAT/GST to customs value plus duty.
Add the admin stack: broker, terminal handling, conformity certificate, IMEI registration, inland leg.
Add border levies and any advance income tax, which is cash out even when creditable later.

Our landed cost guide sets out the full stack; what follows are the country variables that sit on top of it.

Country reference: 14 markets at a glance

Directional only — rates and surcharges change, and nothing here should reach a customer quote without a licensed broker confirming it against the current schedule.

Market	Duty on 8517.13	Consumption tax	Watch-outs
European Union	0% under the common tariff	National import VAT, roughly 19–27%	No margin-scheme relief on non-EU arrivals: VAT on full value, recovered only via your return; WEEE registration applies
United Kingdom	0% under the UK Global Tariff	20% VAT	Postponed VAT accounting keeps the tax out of cash flow — worth more than any duty optimisation
United States	Generally free of MFN duty	No federal VAT; state sales tax at resale	Section 301 exposure on Chinese-origin goods keeps changing and de minimis relief for those shipments was withdrawn — price from a broker's live computation
UAE / GCC	5% common external tariff	5% VAT in the UAE	Free-zone stock for re-export can defer duty; mainland entry triggers it, so routing is the tax decision
Saudi Arabia	GCC tariff, typically 5%	15% VAT	SABER/SASO conformity certification must be in place before arrival
Nigeria	Duty plus levies, low-to-mid teens	7.5% VAT	FX access and import documentation delay more shipments than the tariff; verify the current position with an agent
Kenya	Low duty band	16% VAT	Import Declaration Fee and Railway Development Levy both apply — routinely left out of quotes
India	High: 20% basic duty plus a surcharge on that duty	18% IGST	Used and refurbished handsets are import-restricted — confirm the licence position before quoting
Indonesia	Low-to-mid single digits	VAT plus an import income-tax prepayment	IMEI registration is mandatory for handsets to work on local networks; unregistered stock has no resale value
Vietnam	Low MFN rate	VAT in the 8–10% band	ASEAN-origin stock enters duty-free under ATIGA; conformity declaration required
Brazil	Duty plus federal and state layers	Multiple cascading taxes	Duty, IPI and state ICMS stack; model it with a local despachante, not a spreadsheet
Mexico	Typically 0% under sectoral programmes	16% VAT	NOM certification plus IMEI registration; unregistered devices cannot activate
Turkey	Additional customs duty above the MFN line	20% VAT	Used-goods imports are heavily restricted; a TAREKS reference notification is required
Russia / EAEU	0% in the common tariff	20% VAT	Duty is not the constraint — sanctions screening and payment routing are

Where used handsets differ from new ones

Import restrictions. A minority of markets restrict or licence used electronics imports outright; India and Turkey are the clearest cases among major destinations. This is a go/no-go question, not a cost question.
Conformity schemes. Pre-shipment inspection and certification regimes apply regardless of age, and certificates usually must be obtained in the export country before goods move.
Registration tied to the device. Where IMEI registration is mandatory, the registrant is the local seller — which makes the importer of record a commercial decision.
Statutory guarantees. EU-style legal guarantees attach to the retailer, not the exporter, and the reseller's obligation comes back to you in the price.

Five mistakes that quietly raise landed cost

Undervaluing the invoice. Customs uses valuation databases and can reassess; penalties, storage and blacklisting follow.
The wrong HS code. Accessories, refurbished units and handsets do not all sit at one rate.
Ignoring recovery. Duty is gone forever; import VAT often is not. Unregistered buyers should price it as permanent cost.
Assuming the Incoterm settles the tax. DDP makes the supplier importer of record in your country, which most exporters cannot legally be. See FOB vs DDP.
Forgetting the inland leg. Port to warehouse, regional redistribution, and stock sitting while paperwork clears.

Documentation that decides your rate

A commercial invoice stating the HS code, description, values, currency, Incoterm and origin is the difference between a clean declaration and a valuation query. Preference claims — ASEAN-origin duty-free entry under ATIGA, for example — require a valid certificate of origin. Our certification and import compliance guide covers the document set; the China export compliance guide covers the departure side, including lithium-battery air-freight limits.

Frequently asked questions

Do pre-owned iPhones attract the same duty as new ones?
Usually the same heading and rate. The difference appears in conformity and inspection requirements, registration obligations, and the few markets where used electronics imports are restricted. Confirm the used-goods position before quoting.

Which market is cheapest to land stock into?
Rarely a duty question. Where import VAT is recoverable, effective cost is clearance, freight and your capital cost in transit — where it is not recoverable, the VAT rate dominates.

Can I cut cost by declaring a lower value?
No. It is the most common cause of held shipments, it triggers reassessment against customs valuation databases, and it exposes your importer of record to penalties.

Do I need my own importer of record?
For formal entry at volume, yes — a registered entity plus a licensed broker in the destination market. Clearing commercially as an individual does not scale, and in several markets it is not permitted.

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