Import Duties and Taxes - SCUBA Diving Equipment

With very few exceptions, upon international delivery of your package you should always expect to pay import fees on the value as per the rate table below. They are assessed during Customs clearance and paid by the carrier as the package enters the country; then the monies are reimbursed to the courier by the package recipient upon delivery.


Purchasing online for international delivery is simple, not much different than purchasing online from a local merchant, but there is an extra step in the process called Customs clearance. If you are unfamiliar with purchasing internationally, please read our article titled Customs Clearance for Small Parcels for a more detailed explanation of import duty and tax. We will prepare the necessary Customs clearance paperwork for your order. Documentation requirements are fulfilled with an International Customs Form along with an extra copy of the invoice, both affixed to the outside of the package, that includes a value declaration as "Merchandise" for the invoice amount described as "Water-sport Equipment, Other" and "Country of Origin:USA".

Dive Gear Express guarantees safe arrival of your order.

Dive Gear Express offers international shipping via USPS, UPS and DHL directly to most countries. If our checkout process provides shipping options for your country, then we are able to dispatch directly to your address and Dive Gear Express guarantees safe arrival of your order. For those few countries for which we are currently unable to offer insured international shipping service with guaranteed timely safe arrival, we recommend hiring a third party package forwarding service. For more information see Forwarding Services for International Customers. Dive Gear Express is willing to ship directly to some countries for which we are unable to guarantee safe arrival, upon receipt of non-refundable order payment by international wire transfer. For further information see Non-guaranteed Shipping for International Customers.

Duty and tax rates for "HS 9506.29 Water-sport Equipment, Other"

Disclaimer -- The rates below are estimates collected from a variety of sources, plus reports from our customers, is not complete and may not be current. The estimates are typically based upon shipping retail consumer goods to named individuals at a residential address; rates may be different for addresses containing a business name or delivered to a business address. The local office of third-party expedited couriers like DHL and UPS also apply a service fee for paying the duty and tax in advance during customs clearance, then collecting in arrears at time of delivery. The service fee is typically about 2% to 3% of the amount advanced, usually with a $10.00 to $15.00 minimum. Please keep in mind that for a low value order the fee minimum can be disproportionate to the value of the order, so consider carefully before ordering low value goods with expedited shipping.

Please read this ALERT: Improper "fees" on international packages

Country Duty Sales Tax (VAT)
Antigua And Barbuda 10% 15%
Aruba 6% No sales tax
Australia 5% 10% (Exemption for GST eliminated)
Austria 2.70% 20%
Bahrain 5% 5%
Barbados 10% 17.50%
Belgium 2.70% 21%
Belize 10% 12.50%
Bermuda 22.25% No sales tax
Brazil 20% Depends on province (NO delivery guarantee, see Forwarding Services)
Canada 0% Depends on province. ( For orders shipped via UPS and DHL, carrier is required by CA law to telephone customer to arrange delivery. Clearance fees can be egregious on small orders, so Canadian customers may wish to consider self-clearing )
Cayman Islands 22% No sales tax
Chile 6% 19% (NO delivery guarantee, see Forwarding Services)
Cyprus 2.70% 19%
Czech Republic 2.70% 21%
Denmark 2.70% 25%
Dominica 10% 15%
Ecuador 30% 12%
Egypt 5% 10%
Estonia 2.70% 20%
Finland 2.70% 24%
France 2.70% 20%
Germany 2.70% 19%
Gibraltar 12% No sales tax
Greece 2.70% 24%
Grenada 10% 15%
Guadeloupe 2.70% 8.50%
Guernsey 2.70% No sales tax
Hong Kong, SAR PRC 0% No sales tax (Please use postal code of "00000" or "999077")
Hungary 2.70% 27%
Iceland 10% 24%
Indonesia 15% 10%
Ireland 2.70% 23%
Isle of Man 2.70% 20%
Israel 0% 18%
Italy 2.70% 22%
Jamaica 10% 16.50%
Japan 0% 10%
Jersey 2.70% 5%
Kuwait 5% 5%
Latvia 2.70% 21%
Lithuania 2.70% 21%
Luxembourg 2.70% 17%
Macau, SAR PRC 0% No sales tax (Please use postal code of "00000" or "999078")
Maldives 0% 6% (Import fees may vary if shipped to a business address.)
Malta 2.70% 18%
Martinique 2.70% 8.50%
Mayotte 2.70% 0%
Mexico 0% 16% (NO delivery guarantee, see Forwarding Services)
Monaco 2.70% 20%
Morocco 2.50% 20%
Namibia 0% 15%
Netherlands 2.70% 21%
New Zealand 5% 15%
Norway 0% 25%
Philippines 1% 12%
Poland 2.70% 23%
Portugal 2.70% 23%
Puerto Rico 0% 7.25%
Qatar 5% 0%
Reunion 2.70% 8.50%
Romania 2.70% 19%
Saint Kitts And Nevis 10% 17%
Saint Lucia 10% 15%
Saint Martin 0% No sales tax
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 10% 15%
Saudi Arabia 5% 15% (Effective July 2020)
Singapore 0% 7%
South Africa 0% 15% (Effective April 2018)
South Korea 8% 10%
Spain 2.70% 21%
Suriname 10% 10%
Sweden 2.70% 25%
Switzerland 0% + CHF45.00 per 100 kg 8%
Taiwan 2.50% 5%
Thailand 10% 7%
Turkey 2.70% 18%
Turks And Caicos Islands 30% No sales tax
United Arab Emirates 5% 5%
United Kingdom 2.70% 20%

Customs Clearance for Small Parcels

International Notice: Orders shipped outside the US are subject to local import fees collected by the courier upon delivery. Please read our SCUBA Diving Equipment Import Duties and Taxes (VAT) page for detailed country by country guidelines to estimating duties and taxes.

Nothing in life is certain but death, and taxes. - Ben Franklin 1789

Purchasing low-value consumer goods for international delivery is simple. The process is not much different than purchasing online from a local merchant, but consumers unfamiliar with international transactions are sometimes not aware that their federal government may have import tariffs (duty) on goods entering from outside their country. Likewise, local governments also have their usual consumption taxes (GST) or value added taxes (VAT). They are assessed during Customs clearance and paid by the carrier as the package enters the country; then the monies are reimbursed to the courier by the package recipient upon delivery. Carriers may also include a surcharge for paying the duty and tax in advance then collecting in arrears. Import fees may be different for named individuals at a residential address than addresses containing a business name or delivered to a business address.

As a global retailer, US Dollar (USD $) prices shown on the Dive Gear Express website can not include your local tax or duty. In almost all cases, we also can not include these as part of our order transaction because tax and duty must be determined by, and remitted in local currency directly to, your government. When purchasing locally, the duty and tax may be "invisible" to the consumer because they are included as part of the merchant's retail price, although this practice varies widely depending on the locale and product.

Dive Gear Express has already pre-paid all shipping fees. While you do not have to pay any shipping fees, international package recipients should always expect to pay import fees appropriate for your location. Please be aware that refusal to pay your government mandated duty and/or tax can ultimately prove to be very expensive. If the package is returned to us, any refund amount will be reduced by both the outbound and inbound actual shipping costs from the order. If we are unable to retrieve the package, or the return shipping costs exceed the value of the contents, then the abandoned package will be impounded by Customs of the import country resulting in a total loss and no refund.

We guarantee safe arrival of your order.

Guaranteed safe arrival means we are responsible for delivery of the undamaged order to the ship-to address. You are responsible for providing the correct address of a delivery location that is accessible, safe and secure; then collecting the order from the carrier and promptly notifying us of any discrepancies. For international orders shipped outside the US, you are also responsible for paying import fees upon delivery. Please note the special conditions for orders requesting non-guaranteed shipping, and orders shipped to package forwarding services.


† We do our best to make our international customers aware of duty and tax. We prominently display the International Notice in bold type on our Ordering Guide, Pricing & Payment and Shipping & Delivery information pages, as well on our Shopping Cart. We also include the notice in the Thank You page shown following a successful Place Order plus in the order acknowledgement e-mail.