Free tool
Most cars in Rwanda are imported, so the sticker price abroad is only half the question. Work out what RRA will add — customs, excise, VAT and the infrastructure levy — before you commit to a car you have not seen.
Enter what you would pay the exporter and pick the engine size. The breakdown updates as you type.
What you pay the exporter, in US dollars, before shipping.
Excise is the only rate that moves with engine size. Everything else is charged the same way on every imported car.
Enter a purchase price to see the full breakdown — CIF, customs, excise, VAT and the infrastructure levy.
How it is built
Each step is calculated on the step before it, which is why the total climbs faster than people expect. The percentages shown against each line in the breakdown come from the same calculation, not from this page.
Everything starts here: the price you pay the exporter plus the cost of getting the car to Rwanda — freight and insurance. Duty is charged on this figure, not on your invoice alone.
The East African Community external tariff, charged as a percentage of the CIF value. It is the same on every imported car regardless of engine size.
The one charge that moves with the car. Bigger engines attract a higher rate, which is why a 3.0-litre SUV and a 1.5-litre saloon of the same value land at very different totals.
Charged on the CIF value plus customs and excise together — so VAT is paid on the duties as well as on the car. This is the step most people leave out of their own sums.
A small percentage of CIF, applied on top. It is minor next to the others but it is not zero.
Read this before you budget
It is a planning figure. Treat the gap between it and the real assessment as the risk you are carrying.
The assessment is made against RRA’s own valuation of the vehicle, which may be higher or lower than the price on your invoice. Your purchase price is an input, not the answer.
Depreciation allowances, the year of manufacture and the body type all affect the assessed value. Two cars bought for the same money can clear at different totals.
Port handling, transport from Dar es Salaam or Mombasa, clearing agent fees, registration and first insurance are all real and none of them are in this figure.
Every car on Sawa Cars is already in Rwanda, duty settled. Its documentation — including the RRA duty stamp — is checked during the 150-point inspection and published on the listing, so the price you see is the price you pay.