AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize Taxes and Duties

I know there is a fairly large tax for importing items to Belize, especially items that are considered luxuries (jewelry etc..) Is there any way to get a tax break if you own a company that sold these types of items? In other words if I owned a jewelry shop, would I be subject to pay the huge taxes on every item I needed to import/export to run a successful business? Are there flat taxes or other import rules that would apply to registered businesses in that field.

Thanks,

C-

My understanding of the duty tax is things manufactured here or could be manufactured here where taxed heavy not because of luxury but competition potential.
If you own the company that sells the items you can deduct the GST that is also attach to it but no other breaks I know of.
heads up they charge GST on shipping cost as well.
every time I get a box of equipment from outside of Belize I feel at the end of the day I paid for it twice.

Thanks for your reply. So for instance, if I bought and sold 100's of new/used fishing reels from around the world annually, for resale, also globally (think Amazon/eBay)- Would there be no way to get a break on the import taxes for the merchandise that I am bringing in from oustide of Belize?

Thanks,

C-

And don't forget the import duties are CIF which means you pay for the freight and insurance etc in addition to the value fo the item.

Capt, what does CIF stand for?

This means Cost, Insurance, Freight. This is one method of calculating Import tax, they take the cost of the item, add the cost of the Insurance and Freight you have paid, then work out the Tax on that total. So you are basically paying Import Tax on the whole cost to you of getting the item to Belize and not just the cost or value of the item.

If I remember correctly from the Belize government budget, almost 50% of the total revenue of the government comes from import duties and related taxes. I may be off on the exact percentage, but it's a huge amount. So the GOB takes such revenue VERY seriously.

Of course import duties are among the most recessive and non-productive kinds of taxes in the world ... but that's the way it is in Belize.

ShadowCat has it right. I know from personal experience what this can do to you if you are importing something like a Polaris Ranger. It is completely insane and counter productive.

If these clowns in government wanted to do something they would work on Belize' infrastructure starting with telecommunication which is shameful in many ways, followed by education, water, roads, electricity etc.

They seem to be content trying to rob people of whatever they have and using it to buy votes - oh sorry that is the US.

owwch, no wonder people get indigestion talking about it

Its not just that which is crazy, if you have someone send you something personal or old of high value but low cost to you now, the Import tax is still enormous. You insure the item to make sure you are protected and get stung a whopping great big tax bill for something that really shouldn't have it. It makes people not want to branch out into the world to do business. So many things are not manufactured here so just getting parts for repair is a nightmare speaking from personal experience.

I can understand Belize wanting to make income by Import Tax, however like it was already said it is counter productive as citizens who wish to expand their business and offer more services in Belize by importing products from abroad are not encouraged or subsidized to do this. If Belize's economy is going to continue to grow in a way that benefits EVERYONE, then those at the top of the chain need to be looking to benefit the businesses reaching out to accomplish this.

Just my ten cents worth