Built so you know the number before you buy.
bahamascustoms.com is an independent guide that helps people in The Bahamas work out what Customs will charge before they buy. It is not a government website and has no connection to the Government of The Bahamas or the Bahamas Customs and Excise Department. Here is where every figure comes from and how it is checked.
How the estimate is worked out
Every estimate on this site follows the method the Customs Department sets out in its own booklet of frequently imported items. Four charges, added in this order:
- Duty: the tariff rate for the item, on the price you paid plus any shipping on the seller’s own invoice.
- Processing fee: 1% of that value, never less than $10 or more than $1,000. None on accompanied baggage.
- Environmental levy: the flat amount for the item where one applies, such as $5 on a phone or $250 on a car.
- VAT: 10% of the landed cost, which is the value plus freight plus duty plus fee plus levy.
Freight you pay separately to a courier is not dutiable, but it does join the landed cost that VAT is charged on. The estimator has a switch for this because it changes the answer.
Where the figures come from
- Duty rates and tariff codes for all 247 items: the schedule to the Tariff Act 2023 and the Tariff (Amendment) Acts of 2024, 2025 and 2026, in force from 1 July 2026, read line by line against the Customs Department’s frequently imported items booklet (2024 edition) and its online duty lookup on 31 October 2026. Where the Act and the booklet disagree, the item page says so. Levies and the fee rules are the booklet’s. Vehicles, fuel, alcohol and tobacco show excise duty, because the Act’s customs duty on them is free.
- The 82 couriers and forwarders and 236 customs brokers: the Department’s licensed listings dated 2 September 2026 and 25 August 2026. Licences and bonds renew by 31 March each year.
- Traveller allowances and declaration steps: the Department’s Arriving guidance and the Exempt app.
Every quick answer and guide links to the source it was taken from, so you can check us rather than take our word for it.
What this site is not
It is not legal or tax advice, and it is not the Customs Department. The estimate is a careful reading of the published method; the Tariff Act and the officer assessing your goods decide what you actually pay. Courier handling fees, broker fees, port charges and Road Traffic licensing are outside Customs and outside these figures.
The booklet itself contains a small arithmetic slip in its television example, where the printed total leaves out the $10 fee listed above it. Our figures include the fee, because the courier will.
Spotted an error? Tell us
If a rate, a listing or a figure here is wrong or out of date, email [email protected] with the page and the source you are looking at. Corrections are checked against the Customs Department’s publications and noted in the changelog.
How it is kept current
Rates are re-checked against the Tariff (Amendment) Act after each budget, which takes effect on 1 July, and against the booklet when the Department publishes a new edition. The directory is refreshed when the Department posts new licensed listings. The date of the last check is shown on the rates pages and in the footer, together with the version of the site you are looking at.