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Origin and trade agreements

Importing into Honduras

How Honduras taxes imports: the 15% sales tax (ISV), 18% on alcohol and cigarettes, charged on the CIF value plus duties, and who pays it at customs.

Updated · 3 official sources

Honduras charges its sales tax (Impuesto Sobre Ventas, ISV) on imports at 15%, or 18% on beer, spirits, other alcoholic drinks and cigarettes. The tax is due when the goods are nationalized, on the CIF value plus the customs duties, selective consumption taxes, specific taxes and other import charges. The importer or its customs agent pays it.

Rules as of 30 October 2026.

How is the import sales tax calculated?#

The Honduran sales tax on imports is calculated under the Sales Tax Law (Decree-Law 24 of 1963, as amended), which the tax administration SAR publishes in a consolidated text. The taxable base for imported goods is their CIF value increased by the customs duties, selective consumption taxes, specific taxes and other charges on the import.

Goods ISV rate
Most goods 15%
Beer, spirits, compound liquors, other alcoholic drinks and cigarettes 18%

Because the base includes duty, the tax is higher than 15% of the goods' price whenever duty applies. Take an order with a CIF value of US$300 and US$30 of duty: the ISV is 15% of US$330, or US$49.50, and the total charge is US$79.50. The landed cost calculator works the duty out for a product's tariff line first, and the Honduras country page holds the live data.

Who pays at the border?#

For imports, the people liable for Honduran sales tax are the importers or their customs agent, according to the tax administration SAR. The tax falls due when the goods are nationalized or when the customs declaration (póliza) is settled and paid, so it is settled together with the duties on the declaration rather than on a later return.

Honduras' customs authority is Aduanas Honduras (aduanas.gob.hn). Decide before you ship whether you or the buyer is the importer who pays; the DDP guide covers the trade-offs.

Which goods carry extra taxes?#

Some imports into Honduras carry a production and consumption tax on top of duty and sales tax: cigarettes, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks and other prepared or fermented drinks, and ethyl alcohol. The amounts are adjusted by government agreement in line with Honduran consumer price inflation.

The latest adjustment the SAR lists, Agreement 218-2024 of 18 May 2024, raised those amounts by 5.19%, the year-on-year change in the Central Bank of Honduras' consumer price index to December 2023. For these goods, the 18% sales tax rate applies too.

What changed and when#

Honduras' import sales tax rates come from a consolidated text updated to Legislative Decree 59-2022. Among the SAR's published documents, the dated change since 2024 that affects import taxes is the inflation adjustment of the production and consumption tax on drinks and tobacco, shown here with a link to the official text.

  1. Production and consumption tax raised 5.19%

    The tax on cigarettes, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks and ethyl alcohol was adjusted for inflation to December 2023 by Agreement 218-2024. SAR, Impuesto Sobre Ventas documents (opens in a new tab)

Common questions#

What is the sales tax on imports into Honduras?#

15% for most goods and 18% for beer, spirits, other alcoholic drinks and cigarettes, charged on the CIF value plus duties and other import taxes.

When is the import sales tax paid?#

When the goods are nationalized, or when the customs declaration is settled and paid, together with the duties.

Sources#