A Customs Department Reminder

Estella Leslie

If you’ve ever travelled through the borders or pass through the P.G.I.A., you would’ve come in contact with the Customs and Excise Department. Their role is to check for uncustomed goods, as well as to collect excise and duties for the government. And if you’ve never been taxed when coming into the country, then you may be one of the lucky ones.  But as Deputy Comptroller Estella Leslie reminds the public, you are only entitled to only a certain value of goods. She explains:

Estella Leslie, Deputy Comptroller, Customs & Excise Department

“At the border points, at the international airport, there is an exemption at the border. You have fifty dollars per month that you are allowed to import stuff from the borders, other than that you are required to pay your customs duties and taxes. Through the international airport, you have two hundred dollars that is your exemption when you are coming into the country, individually. And if you are coming with your family, it is six hundred dollars. Other than that, whatever else you are importing, you are required to pay your duties and taxes. Customs is there to enforce the law. The law is that you are to pay your duties and taxes. If you are getting any exemption, it is not from customs. We are not obligated to give exemption – it is from the Ministry of Finance. Other than that, we are just there to collect the duties and taxes. We have the custom tarrifs that customs officer have to abide by. That is the legal mandate to collect duties and taxes. In that tariff it states the items you are bringing in and how much is the import duties. Then you have the general sales tax that we collect on behalf of the general sales tax department and then we have the environmental tax that we also collect when you are importing.”