India Sourcing Toolkit: Checklists and Calculators
- Updated
In June 2026 a first-time US importer brought in a container from India and posted what they'd learned the hard way. "Freight quotes vary wildly. The first number is rarely the real one." Then the line that stung - "My customs broker billed me per line item. Nobody warned me." (r/FulfillmentByAmazon, 2026 (opens in a new tab)). The goods were fine. The cost at their door just wasn't the cost they had planned.
That importer's problem is the reason these tools exist. A quote is only comparable once every line between the Indian factory and your door has a number and a date on it, and most first-time buyers only discover the missing lines when the invoice arrives. So this page gives you a brief to send, a calculator to compare quotes honestly, and the India lines for each checklist. We'll say it once - none of them will tell you what freight costs, because nobody honest can until you have a dated quote with the route named.
The decision in brief is in the playbook: Tools and checklists for India.
Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 1 October 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom
1. Which Tool At Which Stage
A first order runs through five stages, and each tool answers one of them.
Brief. You write down what you want before anyone tells you what they sell. The sourcing brief builder asks the questions a supplier will ask anyway: the material, the size range, the packaging, the certificates your border needs, the quantity per SKU and the landed cost you're aiming for.
Estimate. You turn a quote into a cost at your door. The landed cost calculator adds duty, tax, border charges and the origin and destination charges that a CIF or FOB price leaves out. That's where our US importer's per-line brokerage bill would have shown up.
Screen. You check who you're dealing with. The supplier screen checklist below covers the records, and the method behind it is on how to check a supplier yourself.
Sample. You agree what "right" looks like before you order it. The sample evaluation checklist ends with a signed golden sample.
Order. You confirm you can carry the order - the entity, the registrations, the cash and the QC plan.
Skip a stage and the next one costs more. In our reading of buyers' stories, the expensive first orders usually skipped the brief.
2. The Destination Presets
The calculator ships with one preset per destination. Each holds the duty basis and the import tax as they stood on the date shown, with its source. None holds a freight or broker figure.
| Destination | Duty basis | Import tax and border charges | Source | As at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 0% under ECTA on all tariff lines with an ECTA certificate of origin. General rate without it | GST 10%, plus the ABF import processing charge, which varies by value and lodgement type | ABF import processing charge (opens in a new tab) · ABF ECTA rules of origin (opens in a new tab) | 24 Sep 2026 |
| New Zealand | Normal tariff until 19 October 2026 (10% on cotton T-shirts, for example). 0% from 20 October 2026 under the FTA with proof of origin | GST 15%, plus a goods levy on every consignment: NZD 51.81 by air or NZD 118.44 by sea above NZD 1,000 | MFAT FTA overview (opens in a new tab) · NZ Customs goods levies from 1 April 2026 (opens in a new tab) | 24 Sep 2026 |
| UK | 0% under CETA since 15 July 2026 with proof of origin | Import VAT 20% | UK Trade Tariff notice (opens in a new tab) | 24 Sep 2026 |
| UAE | CEPA preference with a certificate of origin. 5% on goods that don't qualify (Reported) | VAT 5% | UAE government portal, customs duty (opens in a new tab) · UAE MoET, CEPA with India (opens in a new tab) | 25 Sep 2026 |
| EU | MFN, or GSP where the section still has it. The India-EU FTA is concluded but not in force | VAT by member state | EU-India agreements page (opens in a new tab) | 24 Sep 2026 |
| US | MFN plus the 10% Section 301 duty since 24 July 2026, or Section 232 rates on covered goods | No import VAT. State sales tax isn't collected at the border | Federal Register 91 FR 47318 (opens in a new tab) | 24 Sep 2026 |
The values match the destination pages on the review date. If a destination page and a preset ever disagree then the destination page wins and the preset is the bug. Worked examples for a container into Australia and New Zealand are on those pages.
3. The Four Numbers To Get From Your Supplier
The calculator is only as good as four numbers from the supplier, so ask for them in the first RFQ.
The Incoterm and the named place. "FOB" alone means nothing. FOB Nhava Sheva, FOB Chennai and FCA the factory gate in Tiruppur are three different prices with three different sets of charges. And a CIF price hides the charges at your end (CIF explains why). Get the port or place in writing on the quote, and if it's CIF then ask for the destination agent's name so you can get their tariff.
The HS code they'll declare. The duty preset needs the six-digit code, and the supplier's customs broker will already have one. If your broker at home disagrees then settle it before the goods ship. Our HS code finder gives you a starting point, not a ruling.
The certificate of origin they can issue. For 0% into Australia, the UK or, from 20 October 2026, New Zealand, the goods need proof of origin, and the type differs by agreement. Ask which one this supplier has issued before, and for which market. A supplier who has never issued one will learn on your shipment.
Whether the price assumes an export rebate. India's export duty-remission schemes refund exporters for taxes built into their costs, and some suppliers price one in. Ask whether your price assumes one, and whether the quote holds if the scheme changes.
4. Printable Checklists: The India Lines
The full checklists are tools of their own: the RFQ template, the supplier verification checklist and the sample evaluation checklist. These are the India lines to add to them.
Supplier screen (India records)
- GSTIN noted, and the GST record shows the business as active.
- IEC noted, and the IEC lookup shows it as current.
- The legal name reads the same on the GST record, the proforma invoice and the bank account you'll pay. Not similar. The same.
- The declared nature of business on GST matches what the supplier told you (manufacturer or trader).
- You know who makes the goods and who answers for quality, in writing.
RFQ lines for India
- The product MOQ and the packaging MOQ in the same RFQ, because packaging has its own minimums in India.
- The Incoterm and the named place, FOB or FCA rather than EXW, and for CIF the destination agent's name.
- A zero-rated export invoice with no Indian GST on it.
- The certificate of origin type you need for your destination.
5. How To Read A Landed-Cost Estimate
An estimate is a set of assumptions with a date on each one. Read the date first, then the assumption, then the number.
Name the route on every freight quote. A sailing from Nhava Sheva to Melbourne through Singapore in September 2026 is one price, and the same lane after a carrier moves its hub is another. A freight figure without a route and a date is just a guess dressed up.
Keep origin and destination charges as their own lines, too. They land on separate invoices, often after the goods sail, and they're the lines new importers forget. Indian exporters themselves warn buyers about this under FOB (LinkedIn, Indian exporter, 2026 (opens in a new tab)), and our US importer met the same thing at the other end in a broker's per-line bill.
Then change one input at a time. Run the estimate at 0% and at the general rate, and you'll see exactly what the certificate of origin is worth on your goods. On a 10% line into New Zealand before 20 October 2026, that difference is the whole case for waiting a few weeks.
The result is a range, not a promise, and that's the point. Our US importer's "first number" was a promise nobody could keep, while a range with dated lines would have shown the broker's per-line charge before the container sailed. If your margin only works at the bottom of that range then the order isn't ready yet, and the readiness check will tell you why. And if you'd rather a team on the ground in India ran these checklists for you, that's SourcingSync (opens in a new tab)'s work.