What customs clearance costs: published price lists

On the price lists German and Dutch customs brokers publish, one import declaration with one tariff number costs between 49.95 and 95 euros before VAT, and each further tariff number between 3.50 and 12 euros [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [7]. On top come the import duty and import VAT themselves, and often a fee when the broker or the carrier pays them for you [5] [6].

The ranges below come only from price lists the providers publish themselves. A quote for your own shipments can sit outside them.

What one import declaration costs

Koch dates its list "Stand: 2025" [5]. The other lists carry no date of their own; all were read on 24 October 2026.

What ten tariff numbers cost

The price per further tariff number makes the number of lines on the invoice the main driver of the fee. One declaration with ten tariff numbers, before VAT and before any duty:

• Zollagentur Online: 50.00 EUR plus nine times 5.00 EUR, 95.00 EUR [1].
• Heinrich Koch: 55.00 EUR plus the 10.00 EUR ATLAS fee plus seven times 3.50 EUR, 89.50 EUR [5].
• TransHeroes: 82.00 EUR plus nine times 12.00 EUR, 190.00 EUR [7].

The lists count per tariff number or per position; ask the broker which it means for your invoices.

The fee for paying your duty and VAT

A broker or a carrier that pays the import duty and import VAT for you, from its own deferment account, charges for the money it advances:

• Heinrich Koch charges 2 % on advanced duties and taxes, which it says is not deductible [5].
• DHL Express in Germany charges 2 % of the advanced import charges, at least 15.00 EUR plus VAT per cleared shipment, for using its own deferment account [6].
• DHL Express in the Netherlands lists 2 % of the calculated VAT and duties, with a minimum of 15.00 EUR, for account holders [8].

Customs grants deferment of payment on application and against security [10]. Whose deferment account a shipment is paid from, yours or the broker's, is worth settling before the first shipment, because it decides whether this fee appears at all.

Other lines on a clearance invoice

• More lines with a courier. DHL Express in Germany includes up to five positions and charges 5.00 EUR plus VAT for each from the sixth [6]; DHL Express in the Netherlands charges 7.50 EUR per line above five [8].
• Storage. Both charge customs storage after the third day: 11.00 EUR per shipment per day plus 0.50 EUR per kilo per day [6] [8].
• Changing a declaration after clearance. DHL Express in the Netherlands lists 80.00 EUR per shipment for changing values, classification or importer details after the declaration [8].
• Inspection. Koch charges 35.00 EUR per employee per half hour when customs examines goods at its terminal [5].
• Transit. Koch charges 20.00 EUR to close a T1 transit procedure [5].

Ireland: Revenue publishes no agent fees

Revenue's manual on import VAT notes that the declarant may charge a fee for completing the customs formalities, that these are not Revenue charges, and that it is the importer's responsibility to check them with the declarant [9].

Duty and import VAT come on top

The broker's fee is not the duty. The duty is calculated on the customs value: the price paid, with freight and insurance to the EU border added when they are not in it [10]. Import VAT is then charged on the customs value plus the duty and the transport to the first destination in the country of import [11]. The import duty calculator runs both for a code and an origin, and the guide on customs value under CIF and FOB shows what each delivery term adds.

A wrong line can therefore cost twice: the fee for changing the declaration [8], and more duty if the code or the value changes.