How Bahamas Import Fees Work
By George · updated 2026-10-08 · worked examples checked against the Bahamas Tariff Act (schedule version 2026-2027)
Anything you import into The Bahamas can pick up four government charges on top of what you paid for it: import duty, a customs processing fee, in some cases an environmental levy, and VAT. On a typical online order they add somewhere between 15% and 50% to the price. Amazon's Import Fees Deposit is Amazon's own estimate of the same charges, and it often comes out different.
Customs works them out in a fixed order, and each one is part of the base for the next, so the order matters.
1. Import duty
Duty is a percentage of the value of the goods. The rate comes from the tariff line the product is classified under. For things people usually buy online it runs from 0% (computers, books, medicine, baby clothing) to 35–45% (TVs, many appliances, speakers, power tools). A few lines are higher: mattresses are 60%.
Picking the right line out of the 6,702 in the schedule is where most estimates go wrong. Headphones and speakers sit under the same four-digit heading, yet headphones are 0% and speakers are 45%. I go through the common mix-ups in where import estimates go wrong.
2. Customs processing fee
Every entry pays a processing fee of 1% of the value, with a $10 minimum and a $1,500 maximum, whether or not the goods carry duty. A $50 duty-free gadget still pays $10.
The minimum is charged per entry, not per item. That makes it the one charge you can reduce by changing how you ship rather than what you buy; the processing fee guide has the details.
3. Environmental levy
Some goods carry a fixed environmental levy per item, which goes toward disposal and recycling. It's a flat amount rather than a percentage: $15 for a refrigerator or washing machine, $10 for an air conditioner, and $5 for a television, microwave, computer, printer, phone or car tire. Most goods carry none.
4. VAT
VAT is 10%, but it's charged on the landed cost (item value plus freight, duty, the processing fee and any levy), not on the price alone. On high-duty goods that makes it more than 10% of what you paid; for a 45% duty item it's about 15.5%. Why VAT costs more than 10% goes through it step by step.
A worked example
Take a $600 TV, which is 35% duty. Duty is $210. The processing fee is $10 (1% would only be $6, so the minimum applies), and the levy is $5. That gives a landed cost of $825, and VAT on that is $82.50. Total import charges come to $307.50, so the TV ends up costing $907.50.
The same $600 at three other duty rates:
- Duty-free (a laptop): $0 duty, $10 processing, the $5 levy and $61.50 VAT, so $76.50 in charges, or 12.8%.
- 20% (clothing): $120 duty, $10 processing and $73 VAT, so $203, or 33.8%.
- 45% (a soundbar): $270 duty, $10 processing and $88 VAT, so $368, or 61.3%.
The price is the same each time. Only the tariff line changes, and the charges range from $76.50 to $368.
What these four charges don't include
- Freight. It isn't a government charge, but Customs assesses duty on the CIF value (goods, insurance and freight) and VAT on the landed cost, so freight is taxed both ways. $120 of freight on that TV adds $178.20 to what you pay, not $120. If you enter your freight cost in the calculator, it's included in both.
- Excise. Vehicles, fuel, alcohol and tobacco are taxed under a separate law, the Excise Act. Most of those goods are free of customs duty and pay excise instead, at rates up to 65%. See duty-free but not tax-free.
- Broker and forwarder fees. These are commercial charges, not government ones. Clearing the entry yourself on Click2Clear saves the broker fee.
- Storage or demurrage, if a shipment isn't collected in time.
You can try your own numbers in the duty calculator.