Your duty free allowance when you shop online is going from US$50 to US$100! As Lizzo would say, it’s about damn time!

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke recently announced the government’s plans to repeal and replace Jamaica’s Customs Act.

Clarke made the announcement at the JLP’s annual conference on Sunday.  He said the Act is outdated and needs several updates. 

One of the major updates will be to double the duty-free allowance for imported goods at ports and personal items at airports.

Currently, Jamaicans can import items worth up to US$50 duty-free. If the item costs more than that, you are charged duties on the full value of the item. And this could vary based on the type of item you’re importing.

Effective April 1, 2024, the Government is planning to increase that threshold to US$100. 

That’s double the current amount and something that Jamaicans have been asking for for AGES now!

Dr Clarke also announced that the government is planning to double the tax threshold for personal and household items at airports from US$500 to US$1,000.  

Currently, all travellers to Jamaica are allowed US$500 worth of personal and household items, including gifts, duty free. Over that and you have to pay the piper. And trust me, the customs agents are gonna ask you every time if you have items over US$500 and if you sure you didn’t spend more than that.

Again, the Government is promising to increase this amount to US$1,000. 

And to be honest, this move makes sense. Inflation in the last two years alone would have justified an increase; the cost of goods and services have skyrocketed since the pandemic.

But when you consider that this Customs Act is from the 1940s, with very few updates since then, it makes it even more evident that it needs to be updated. Jamaica’s currency didn’t even exist in the 1940’s and we were paying for food with shillings and pence.

So yea, an update is needed. But, on the flip side, how will this impact the government’s revenues. According to the 2023 budget, the Government estimates they’ll earn J$63 billion in revenue from custom tax ALONE.

Increasing the threshold will significantly cut the estimates for the next financial year. How will that affect their spending plans?  Or will it mean tax increases in other areas?

Those are all questions we need answers to. They’ll most likely be addressed in the next budget debates once the government actually tables the bill to replace the Act.

And that’s the bottom line.