Import reference / Tanzania
What import duty and tax do you pay on a diesel generator into Tanzania?
Import duty on a diesel generating set into Tanzania is zero. Under the East African Community Common External Tariff every subheading of HS 8502 carries a 0 percent rate, including 8502.11.00 up to 75 kVA and 8502.12.00 above 75 kVA and up to 375 kVA. You still pay the Railway Development Levy at 2 percent of CIF, a Customs Processing Fee at 0.6 percent of the FOB value, and VAT at 18 percent charged on the customs value plus duty plus those charges. Together that is about 21 percent of CIF, and none of it is customs duty.
Rates last checked against the published schedule on .
What a customs entry attracts
Tariff heading 8502.12.00, generating sets with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines, of an output exceeding 75 kva but not exceeding 375 kva. sets at or below 75 kva fall in 8502.11.00 and carry the same 0 percent rate.. Port of entry Dar es Salaam.
| Charge | Rate | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Import dutyEvery subheading of HS 8502 is zero rated in the EAC Common External Tariff, read directly from the schedule. Guides that quote the 25 percent consumer goods band for generators have applied the wrong band. | 0 percent | CIF value |
| Railway Development Levy (RDL)Charged on goods entered for home consumption in Mainland Tanzania. Sources still quoting 1.5 percent are out of date. | 2 percent | CIF value |
| Customs Processing Fee (CPF)Charged on FOB, not on CIF. Most published guides state CIF, which overstates it on any lane where freight is a large share of landed value. | 0.6 percent | FOB value |
| VATThe Act applies it to the customs value whether or not duty is payable, so a 0 percent duty rate does not reduce the VAT base. A VAT registered importer recovers this, which leaves about 2.5 percent as the irrecoverable cost of importing. | 18 percent | Customs value plus duty plus every other levy and fee on the import |
| Total as a share of CIF | about 21 percent | |
The working
- 01Take the CIF value as 100.
- 02Import duty at 0 percent adds 0.
- 03RDL at 2 percent of CIF adds 2.
- 04The Customs Processing Fee is 0.6 percent of FOB, and FOB is CIF less freight and insurance, so it adds a little under 0.6.
- 05VAT is charged on the customs value plus duty plus those charges, so on about 102.5. At 18 percent that adds about 18.5.
- 06Total is about 21 percent of CIF. The freight share barely moves it: the answer sits between 20.4 and 21.1 percent whatever proportion of CIF the FOB value is.
- 07For a VAT registered importer the VAT is recoverable, which leaves about 2.5 percent as a real cost.
Conformity: PVoC, administered by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards
HS 8502.11 and 8502.12 are on the TBS regulated list, so a Certificate of Conformity has to be issued in the country of export by a TBS appointed inspection body. Goods arriving without one face a penalty assessed on the CIF value on top of the normal charges, which is far larger than the certificate itself.
Before shipment, not on arrival. The certificate cannot be obtained retrospectively once the goods have sailed, so it has to be planned into the production schedule rather than the shipping schedule.
Commonly stated, and wrong
The Railway Development Levy is 1.5 percent.
It is 2 percent of CIF. The Tanzania Revenue Authority states 2 percent in its current schedule of taxes and duties.
The Customs Processing Fee is 0.6 percent of CIF.
It is 0.6 percent of the FOB value. On a containerised import where freight is a meaningful share of landed value, quoting it against CIF overstates the charge.
You can defer the VAT on imported capital goods, and a generating set is a capital good.
Deferral of VAT on imported capital goods ceased to apply on 30 June 2026. Any guide still offering it as a cash flow option for an import today is out of date.
The Industrial Development Levy applies to imported machinery.
It applies to a closed list of HS codes and generating sets are not on it. The list does reach machinery, road tractors under 8701 are named, so the absence of 8502 is a real exclusion rather than an oversight.
Zero duty means the import is cheap to clear.
Duty is zero but VAT is charged on the customs value whether or not duty is payable, so the landed tax is still about 21 percent of CIF. What zero duty removes is the duty, not the tax.
Questions
Is there any import duty on a diesel generator in Tanzania?
No. Every subheading of HS 8502 carries a 0 percent rate under the East African Community Common External Tariff, so a diesel generating set enters Tanzania free of customs duty regardless of its output.
What is the total tax on importing a generator into Tanzania?
About 21 percent of the CIF value. That is the Railway Development Levy at 2 percent of CIF, a Customs Processing Fee at 0.6 percent of FOB, and VAT at 18 percent on the customs value plus duty and those charges. None of it is customs duty.
Can a VAT registered importer recover the VAT?
Yes. The 18 percent is recoverable by a VAT registered importer, which leaves roughly 2.5 percent of CIF as the irrecoverable cost of bringing the machine in.
Do I need a certificate before shipping a generator to Dar es Salaam?
Yes. HS 8502.11 and 8502.12 are on the Tanzania Bureau of Standards regulated list, so a Certificate of Conformity must be issued in the country of export before the goods sail. It cannot be obtained after shipment, and arriving without one triggers a penalty assessed on the CIF value.
Can I still defer the VAT on a generator as a capital good?
No. Deferral of VAT on imported capital goods ceased to apply on 30 June 2026, so the VAT falls due at import.
Is Tanzania or Kenya cheaper to import a generator into?
They are close. Both carry 0 percent duty under the same common tariff. Tanzania lands at about 21 percent of CIF on an 18 percent VAT rate, Kenya at about 21.2 percent on a 16 percent VAT rate carrying a higher fee stack. The difference is small enough that conformity lead time and freight matter more than tax.
Sources
- East African Community Common External Tariff, 2022 version
- Read directly from the schedule published by the Tanzania Revenue Authority. Heading 85.02: 8502.11.00, 8502.12.00 and 8502.13.00 each carry 0 percent, as do 8502.20, 8502.31, 8502.39 and 8502.40.
- Tanzania Revenue Authority, Taxes and Duties at a Glance 2025/2026
- Railway Development Levy 2 percent of CIF. Customs Processing Fee 0.6 percent of FOB value. VAT on importation of taxable goods into Mainland Tanzania 18 percent. Industrial Development Levy list of eighteen HS codes, which does not include 8502.
- Value Added Tax Act, CAP 148 R.E. 2019, section 9
- Value of an import is the sum of the customs value under the East African Customs Management Act whether or not duty is payable, plus any customs duty payable, plus any other tax, levy, fee or fiscal charge on the import other than duty and VAT.
- Value Added Tax Act, CAP 148 R.E. 2019, section 11
- Deferral of VAT on imported capital goods, which the Revenue Authority records as ceasing to apply on 30 June 2026.
Rates change. This page states what the schedule said on . Confirm the current position with a licensed clearing agent before you commit to a shipment, and treat the classification as indicative until customs rules on your entry.