About Import Duty/Tax on Used Belongings

by C. Carty
(Slough England)

My Wife and I are moving to Anguilla and bring our limited amout of furniture, clothes and personal affects, also a motorcycle, all of which will be coming from the UK.

My wife's parents are both Anguillian. I have looked on the Anguilla Custom's web site, however no information applies to used beloings etc, with regard to any import tax.

Please advise.

C Carty

Ken's Reply: There are no duties on used goods, as long as they are more than 5 years old. If memory serves, we ended up paying something like $5,000 for items like flat screens, etc. (i.e., the items that were obviously less than 5 years old). Hope that helps. Good look with the move! Coming from the U.K., you're going to enjoy the sunshine!

Anguilla Duties On Automobiles

by Robert

I will be moving to Anguilla for a couple of years. If I bring my car with me, do I have to pay import duty or fees of any sort? Thanks a lot. Robert

Reply by Dad: When you move to Anguilla, there is no duty on anything that is used (i.e., more than 5 years old). When we brought most of our worldly possessions to Anguilla, we paid duty only on the new plasmas and other obviously new items.

Now, I'm not sure about automobiles, since we sold ours. But I see no reason for the rules to be any different.

On the other hand, guidelines do change. And a car if a big-ticket item, so we want to get our info about Anguilla duties correct. So please contact our Anguilla lawyer, Eustella Fontaine, for up-to-date and accurate information.

She'll likely prove useful in other ways as well, during your move. For example, if you are Canadian, you can structure your affairs to pay not taxes while living in Anguilla. But do not position your move as being temporary, or you will.

Check, too, your local laws regarding taxation. Anguilla is developing favorable tax treaties with countries like Canada that may be in place by the time you read this.

All the best,
Ken

P.S. If anyone sees this note and has brought a car onto the island of Anuilla, please don't hesitate to share your experience. It is information worth knowing, since buying a used car and importing it into Anguilla is becoming an expensive affair since duties increased.