Customs extend duty exemption on personal use goods below MVR 10k

Maldives Customs Service has extended duty exemption for goods imported for personal use, effective from July 01, 2024.

Customs authority announced that the previous duty exemption cap for the said category, has been increased from MVR 6,000 to up to MVR 10,000 of goods at FOB value.

This allowance, Customs said, is extended only for general customers for personal use and for travelers.

Duty will be exempted for goods imported for personal use if its FOB value is below MVR 10,000.

According to Customs, goods declaration must be submitted for personal use goods that exceed MVR 10,000 in its FOB value. The Duty for these items will be calculated after deducting MVR 10,000.

Similarly, goods declaration must be submitted for the items with an FOB value less than MVR 10,000, but still considered as commercial quanity. Duty on these items will be applied on the FOB value of the shipment.

Other items that are eligible for duty exemption include medicines prescribed by a practitioner. Customs said that the prescribed quantity up to six months will be exempted from duty.

Besides this, couriers or postal consignments with each tracking number treated as a separate shipment is eligible for duty exemption as well.

Multiple consignments with different tracking numbers under a single consignee in courier or postal bag will be considered as one shipment, and is eligible for duty exemption if the FOB value is below MVR 10,000.

While, Customs has extended duty exemption for these items, the authority also announced that some items that previously received allowances will no longer be eligible for it. These items include;

• Plastic bags or items categorized as single-use plastic
• Energy drinks
• Motorcyles and autocycles
• Four-wheeled vehicles
• Marine vessels
• Spare parts of vessels and vehicles

Additionally, duty allowances for conventional and flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, sheesha, and e-liquid will be dropped entirely effective August 01, 2024.

Customs also warned that it will not extend duty allowances or exemption for goods imported by general customers and travelers if the items are used for purposes other than personal use.