How to Automatically Set Who Pays Customs Duties and Taxes

This article explains how to set the customs duties payor automatically for orders imported from your connected store.

Shipments that clear customs incur duties and taxes. The customs payor determines who is billed for them. Instead of setting this on each shipment, you can have Swotzy apply it to imported orders for you.

For how rules are structured and how rule priority works, see What Are Store Automation Rules?

Result

Once you've completed these steps:

Imported orders receive a customs payor automatically
The rule appears in your store's Rules list, where you can reorder, duplicate, deactivate, or delete it

Before You Start

Make sure that:

Your store is connected in Integrations > Stores
You have read What Are Store Automation Rules?

Who Pays Duties and Taxes

Three options are available in the Duties payor dropdown:

Sender - DDP incoterm — customs duties and taxes are charged to you as the sender after the shipment clears customs. These charges are not included in the platform prices and are issued in a separate invoice. See What is a Customs Invoice?
Recipient - DAP incoterm — the recipient is responsible for paying customs duties and taxes before or upon delivery
Third Party - DAP incoterm — a third party, such as a freight forwarder or business partner, is responsible for paying customs duties and taxes

Create the Rule

Go to Integrations > Stores
Click Manage on the store you want to configure
In the Rules section, click Add order import rule under Order Import
Select Set customs payor / importer from the action list — use the search field to find it
Select an option from the Duties payor dropdown
Click Add Condition
Select the field to check in the first dropdown — for example, Is international, Recipient country, or Shipping method
Select the operator in the second dropdown — for example, is, is not, or contains
Enter the value to match in the third field
Enter a name in Rule name (optional) to identify the rule in your list
Leave Status set to Active
Click Create Rule

Available operators depend on the field you select.

To match on more than one condition, click Add Condition again. All conditions must be true for the rule to apply.

Without conditions, the rule applies to every order imported from the store.

Rules run in order, and the first matching rule wins per group. To set a different payor for different destinations, place your most specific rule first.

Third-Party Duties Payor

Selecting Third Party - DAP incoterm opens additional fields.

Enter the FedEx account to bill for duties in FedEx third-party account number. Leave this field blank for other carriers.

The importer of record is set to Third party and cannot be changed. Enter the third party's details in the fields that appear.

Importer of Record

The importer of record is the party responsible for importing the shipment. If customs clearance requires additional information, the carrier or customs agent contacts this party first.

The Importer of record toggle appears below the Duties payor field. Recipient is the default and applies to most shipments.

Set the toggle to Third party to name a different importer of record. This opens the following fields:

Company
Contact name
Address line 1
Address line 2
City
State / Region
ZIP / Postal code
Country
Phone
Email
Importer tax ID type — VAT, EORI, IOSS, VOEC, EIN, or Other
Importer tax ID value

Carrier Availability

Not every carrier supports every incoterm. If your incoterm rule and a carrier selection rule cannot both be applied, the first matching rule wins.

If the carrier rule runs first, the shipment keeps the carrier and the incoterm is not applied
If the incoterm rule runs first, the shipment keeps the incoterm and no carrier is assigned. Select a carrier manually before creating the label

Need Assistance?

If you experience any issues while setting up your rule, our support team is here to help.

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