Upward onward: Bajan excellence 2030

Customs to initiate re-registration of the warehouse and duty-free shopping sector on a rolling 3-year cycle Measure announced The Prime Minister announced that a new 2022 Customs Tariff is to be laid in Parliament and will take effect from 1 April 2023. She indicated that the Barbados Customs and Excise Department (Customs department) will be initiating re-registration of the warehouse and duty-free shopping sector on a rolling 3-year cycle. In addition, the Customs department is to conduct field audits of the warehouse and duty-free shopping sector. The audits are to be conducted in collaboration with delegated authorities of the exemption regime. An Omnibus Financial Guarantee will be introduced for warehouse and duty-free shop operators to protect duty liability which will lower the cost of doing business upon successful re-registration. Warehouse and duty-free shop operators will also be required to install customised warehouse and inventory management software in the coming fiscal year which is intended to better monitor operations. Our view: The measures mentioned should assist the Government in tightening the reins on the collection of customs duties currently being lost as a result of persons abusing the current duty free system. The Prime Minister was not specific in when the re-registration or audits would commence, however, businesses should ensure that they put the necessary measures in place to be compliant. The requirement for the installation of the customised software could be burdensome for some business, which are already dealing with rising costs and perhaps Government could consider providing subsidies or concessions on the software installation to businesses. PwC | 2023/24 Budget review | Barbados 13

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