Sri Lanka Power Bank Import Tax Calculator (2026)

A power bank is a lithium-ion accumulator — HS heading 85.07, subheading 8507.60. Arriving as a finished consumer good, it sits in the top band of Sri Lanka's simplified three-band import tariff. This calculator applies that finished-good treatment as the headline estimate because it is the higher figure you should budget for. The levies stack on the CIF (Cost + Insurance + Freight) declared on your invoice, applied in this statutory order:

1. Customs Import Duty = CIF × 15% (top-band general duty rate for a finished good).
2. Cess = CIF × 0% — no Cess line is gazetted for lithium-ion accumulators in the current tariff guide.
3. PAL (Ports & Airports Development Levy) = CIF × 10% under PAL Act No. 18 of 2011.
4. Surcharge on Customs Duty = CD × 0% — applied only to CD, so zero while no customs surcharge is in force.
5. VAT = (CIF + CD + Cess + PAL + Surcharge) × 18% — the IRD's current VAT rate on the cumulative base.
6. SSCL (Social Security Contribution Levy) = the same VAT base × 2.5%, under SSCL Act No. 25 of 2022.

The shortcut formula

Because VAT and SSCL both feed off the same cumulative base, the six ad-valorem charges collapse into a single multiplier on CIF. At the finished-good rates that multiplier is CIF × 0.50625 (50.63%). Multiply your CIF in rupees by that number and you have the import tax. The module exposes both methods — calculatePowerBankImportTax walks the line items so you can audit the working, while calculateAdValoremByMultiplier gives the one-shot answer — and both agree to the rupee.

Passenger baggage versus courier

The import mode changes the answer. Passenger baggage applies the Customs personal-use concession: up to 2 used power banks carried by an arriving passenger clear duty-free as personal effects, so the import tax is zero and the landed cost equals the CIF. Extra units in the same bag are treated as a dutiable shipment. Courier / parcel imports — DHL, FedEx, Aramex and the like — never qualify for the personal-use concession; every unit is dutiable, and shipping plus insurance is added to the CIF before tax is applied.

The watt-hour flight check

The money question is only half the story: a large power bank can be legal to own but illegal to fly with. IATA and ICAO rate spare lithium batteries in watt-hours, computed as Wh = mAh × nominal voltage (V) ÷ 1000. Lithium-ion cells are nominally 3.7 V, so a 20,000 mAh pack is 74 Wh and a 27,000 mAh pack is 99.9 Wh. The thresholds are hard: at or below 100 Wh a power bank flies in carry-on with no approval; between 100 and 160 Wh it needs airline approval and a maximum of two units; above 160 Wh it is banned from passenger aircraft entirely. One rule never changes: power banks are always forbidden in checked baggage and must travel in your hand luggage.

Edge cases the calculator handles

A CIF of zero returns zero tax with no divide-by-zero in the effective-rate figure. In passenger mode the allowance is applied to the first 2 units and only the rest are taxed. Non-LKR prices are converted at the exchange rate you enter before any tax is applied, matching the order Customs uses on its own worksheet. Quantities above 50 fall outside scope, because bulk commercial imports get a case-by-case valuation from Customs. The flight check evaluates the watt-hour rating independently of the duty, so it works even when the tax is zero.

Three scenarios that reconcile to the Customs Tariff Guide and the IATA limits line by line. Plug each set of inputs into the calculator above — the breakdown table and the flight panel should match these steps.

• Sri Lanka Customs — National Imports Tariff Guide (HS 85.07 accumulators, subheading 8507.60)
• Sri Lanka Customs — Personal Baggage Allowance
• Sri Lanka import tariffs & taxes — simplified three-band tariff (0% / 10% / 15%)
• IRD — Value Added Tax (current rate)
• IRD — Social Security Contribution Levy (SSCL Act No. 25 of 2022)
• IATA — Lithium Battery Guidance (power banks: carry-on only, 100 Wh / 160 Wh limits)
• SriLankan Airlines — Dangerous Goods / restricted items

The rates above were last cross-checked against the cited sources on 2026-07-12. The schedule is reviewed after every budget speech and whenever a new PAL, VAT or Cess gazette is published. If you spot a mismatch, email the author and the page is updated within 24 hours.