Defaults checked 29 July 2026. Duty depends on the commodity code the item is classified under and is the figure most worth verifying — check current rates on GOV.UK. This is an estimate, not a quote.
Change the duty rate before you trust the total. It is the one figure that genuinely varies. LED therapy panels can be classified under more than one commodity heading, and the rate follows the classification. The default here is a placeholder, not a ruling.
How the charges stack
The order matters, because two of them compound.
1. Currency. You pay in dollars. Your card issuer's rate is not the mid-market rate you saw on Google, and the spread is typically a few percent before any fee.
2. Customs duty. Charged on the value of the goods plus the shipping, at whatever rate the commodity code attracts.
3. Import VAT. Charged on goods plus shipping plus the duty. This is the one people get wrong — you pay VAT on the duty, not just on the panel.
4. Courier handling. A flat clearance fee the carrier adds for paying the above on your behalf and invoicing you. Trivial on a big panel, brutal on a small one.
The same panel, two ways
A mid-range panel at $899 from a North American brand:
- Goods £710.99
- Duty £28.44
- Import VAT £147.89
- Handling £12.00
The identical budget spent with a UK-stocked brand:
- Goods £899.32
The second bar has no duty, no import VAT line and no courier fee, because the price already includes UK VAT and the goods never cross a customs border. Same money out of your account. Substantially more panel.
This is the entire argument for checking before you buy. A US brand has to be meaningfully better, or meaningfully cheaper, to survive the comparison — and on a spec sheet alone you would never see it.
Returns are the part nobody mentions
Import charges are predictable. Returns are where it gets genuinely painful.
- Return shipping on a 15–25kg panel back across the Atlantic is not trivial, and many brands will not cover it for a change of mind.
- Import charges are usually reclaimable if you return the goods — but you have to claim them yourself, with paperwork, and it is not automatic.
- Warranty service may mean shipping a failed unit out and a replacement back, twice paying the same problem.
Ask a brand these three questions before you order. How clearly they answer tells you how they will behave when something goes wrong.
Brands by origin
| Brand | Ships from | Priced in | Import charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMR-TEK | Toronto, Canada | USD | Yes |
| Mito Red Light | United States | USD | Yes |
| Joovv | United States | USD | Yes |
| CurrentBody | Manchester, UK | GBP | No |
| BON CHARGE | UK warehousing | GBP | No |
The honest caveats
This calculator gives you an estimate, not a quote. It cannot know the commodity code your specific device is classified under, what rate your card issuer applies on the day, or which courier handles the clearance.
What it does do is stop you being surprised by a three-figure bill on the doorstep — which is the failure mode this page exists to prevent.
Rates change. If the check date at the top of this page is old, treat the defaults as stale and confirm the current figures on GOV.UK.