What’s the difference between duties and taxes?

When it comes to shipping, the terms 'duties' and 'taxes' can be easily confused. 

• What are duties? Customs duties are a type of tax on cross-border goods that are collected by customs as government revenue and to protect local industries.
  
  • What types of duties are there? Common examples include anti-dumping taxes, trade tariffs, export duties and excise duties. They're mostly in the form of import duties, which apply to goods entering a country.
    
  • Who pays duties? Most duties are paid by the importer. Export duties are paid by the exporter.
    


• What are taxes? They're government fees placed on purchased goods coming into a country (imported). Even though the goods have been purchased abroad, this consumption tax still applies and must be collected by customs when goods enter a country. 
  • What types of taxes are there? Sales tax, value-added tax (VAT) and goods and services tax (GST) are practically the same thing, however the name and rate varies by country. Example tax rates can be 0%, 10%, 20% or more, depending on the country and product. 
  • Who pays taxes? Taxes are usually paid by the importer. 

The key difference between taxes and duties is that duties are a type of tax on goods entering or leaving a country, while taxes are charges placed on almost all purchases. Both contribute to the total import and export costs of a product.