IGST on imports is cash flow, not cost — and mixing them up ruins your pricing
A GST-registered importer reclaims IGST as input credit. Basic Duty, AIDC, cess and surcharge are gone forever. Treating those two the same way guarantees you price wrong.
Two numbers, both true, both different
Gross landed cost is what leaves your bank on the day of clearance. Effective cost is what the goods actually cost you once the IGST comes back as input tax credit. You need the first to plan cash and the second to set a price.
A spreadsheet that reports only the gross figure will make you price too high and lose deals you should have won. One that quietly nets off IGST will leave you short of cash at the port. Both failures are common and both are avoidable by simply reporting the two separately.
What is recoverable and what is not
| IGST | Recoverable as input tax credit |
| Basic Customs Duty | Absorbed permanently |
| AIDC | Absorbed permanently |
| Customs Health Cess | Absorbed permanently |
| Social Welfare Surcharge | Absorbed permanently |
Price against the absorbed duties. Plan cash against the total. On a typical consignment the gap between those two figures is larger than your entire margin.