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Why we flag rates as unverified

The case of Georgia: what to do when sources contradict each other, and how that shows up in a calculation.

· ImportOS

In an ImportOS calculation, a warning appears next to some rates: "rate not confirmed by an official source". That is not a glitch; it is a deliberate choice. It is better to admit uncertainty than to show a confident number that cannot be trusted.

Three statuses

  • Confirmed ✓. The rate was checked against the official text of a law or a government page.
  • Unverified ?. There are only secondary sources (blogs, news, calculators), or they contradict each other.
  • Not accounted for. Sources are unavailable (for example a site returns 403 or a CAPTCHA). We do not bypass this; we record it as unavailable.

An example: Georgia

For importing cars into Georgia, sources contradict each other. The duty in the calculation is 5%[?] and VAT is 18%[?]. Some sources claim the duty is 0% and that VAT is not charged on private car imports. We took the higher rates, because it is better to overestimate cost than to underestimate it. The [?] mark next to each value links to the source we used.

Georgia's excise, by contrast, is confirmed by the official text of the law and is calculated from it.

What to do when you see a warning

  1. Open the source and compare it with the current text.
  2. If you have confirmed a different rate, tell us: rules are updated as a separate version by date.
  3. For an important deal, check with a customs broker in the destination country.

How this affects the verdict

Unverified rates lower "confidence in the calculation", and low confidence prevents a "good margin" verdict even when the numbers look good.

The principle

Do not invent rates, prices or contacts, and mark what is unknown as unknown. That is how we try to keep trust in the rest of the numbers.

Sources