The 1% Processing Fee, Its $10 Minimum, and Its $750 Cap
By George · updated 2026-08-24 · checked against the 2026 Bahamas tariff schedule
Every customs entry into The Bahamas pays a processing fee of 1% of the value, subject to a $10 minimum and a $750 maximum. It applies whether or not the goods attract duty. It is charged per entry, not per item. And because it has a floor, it behaves very differently at the two ends of the value range.
Below $1,000, the minimum is what you pay
1% of $1,000 is exactly $10, so $1,000 is the crossover point. Below it, the percentage is irrelevant — you pay the $10 floor:
- $200 entry: 1% would be $2. You pay $10.
- $500 entry: 1% would be $5. You pay $10.
- $1,000 entry: 1% is $10. You pay $10.
- $2,000 entry: 1% is $20. You pay $20.
Above $75,000 the cap binds and the fee stops growing at $750 — relevant for vehicles and container loads, not for online shopping.
What the floor does to small parcels
On a cheap item the $10 minimum can be the largest single line on the bill. A $15 paperback is duty-free, but the entry still costs $10 processing and $2.50 VAT — $12.50 of charges on a $15 book, or 83% of the item price. A $25 phone case at 20% duty pays $5 duty, $10 processing and $4 VAT: $19 on a $25 item.
Nothing is wrong with those calculations. It is simply what a fixed fee does to a small base.
It is charged per entry, which is the lever you control
Because the floor applies per entry rather than per item, four separate small shipments pay the $10 minimum four times, while the same goods in one entry pay it once. Four $50 orders of 20%-duty goods cost $108 in total import charges. The identical $200 of goods on a single entry costs $75. Consolidating saves $33 — about 16% of the order value — and the goods, the duty rate and the VAT rate did not change at all.
The effect is even sharper on duty-free goods, where the fee is a larger share of the bill: four $25 duty-free parcels cost $54 in charges, versus $21 for one $100 entry.
That is the whole argument for consolidation, worked through in the consolidation guide.
Remember it is in the VAT base
The processing fee is part of the landed cost, so 10% VAT is charged on it too. The $10 minimum really costs $11. Small, but it is one more reason the estimate you did in your head came in low — see why 10% VAT costs more than 10%.
To see the fee applied correctly against a real value, use the duty calculator.