Grenada charges diver $535 to bring own gear

[RN EMT-P]

A friend of my daughter is a student in Grenada. She took her own dive gear (reg, BCD, computer, fins, boots) when she went back to school after break. She was charged $535 by the government for bringing her own gear. This seems excessive and was a total surprise to her. Is this a common practice on the part of island governments?

 

[Kay Wilson]

As this is a 'friend of a friend' story I would like a little more info.

The young lady may be classed as a resident, rather than a tourist, and it is not uncommon for students to sell items that they bring into the islands when they leave. The Customs Officers are aware of this, and may have charged import duties for this reason. I do not live in Grenada, but I have lived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for over 10 years, and the Customs policies in most of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are very similar.

Please note that holiday makers are allowed to bring their own gear without charge, as they are not likely to sell their gear prior to returning home, and registered businesses have concessions that they can apply for to assist with the cost of import duties. Most OECS countries are very dependent on the collection of duties as revenue.

If the young lady keeps the revenue receipt, she should have re-course to reclaim the duties when she leaves the island with her dive gear.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

If she is a student she is classed as a resident. She is liable for import duties just as she would be in the USA or Canada, or any other country I know of.

 

[Wookie]

I've seen those students, they work their tails off. By the time the gear was bought and duty paid, she probably could have gotten a hell of a deal on rental next door at Aquanauts for all of the diving she'll be doing.

 

[Allan C Smith]

Quick Tip for any of you SB soon to be Ex pats. Generally any thing you bring though the airport will not be taxed. Customs will assume you are a tourist. However just to be careful, I take every thing that's new out of the box. I even go so far as to put a few scratches on new things. Make sure that you don't travel with any receipts and always tell the Customs guy you are just visiting(unless you know him then invite him to the bar after work). Any thing you ship in will have the **** taxed out of it! I have been charged $40us for a $10 flash light. However if you keep your cool you can usually work out a deal. Especially if you have cash. Why do Caricom islands tax this way? Because the governments are greedy and lazy. Imho you should only charge an import tax for goods you produce and I assure you no one on Grenada is producing scuba gear. But that's a topic for a different thread.