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Customs Procedures
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For information on Customs Procedures, go to:
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Concessions
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Concessions are available for imports for certain industries such as the tourism,
construction and the car hire industry. Concessions on Trades Tax are approved by the Policy
& Strategy Division of the Ministry of Finance. The approval is either stamped on the Bill
of Entry or set out in a letter attached to the Bill.
VAT is generally applied on all imported goods; however there are a number of goods, class
and categories of persons which are exempted under the Value Added Tax (Amendment of
Schedules) Regulation 2014. Exempted imports mean it is excluded from payment of Value
Added Tax (VAT) at the point of Entry.
There are some specific exemptions in the case of class and category of people whereby the
approval or authorization of the parent agencies or ministries is required. Therefore,
related Bill Of Entry for imports by those class and category of persons requesting for
such exemption need to be endorsed or a letter attached to it from the appropriate agencies
or ministries for Customs to allow the exemption. Please note the following should apply:
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BOE, invoice, bill of lading or airway bill should be in the name of the organization
entitled or eligible for exemption of VAT.
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Copy of endorsed BOE/ letter attached with BOE must be submitted to Customs before
payment of tax liability.
Companies may be set up in the Seychelles International Trading Zone (SITZ) which is
administered by the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA). Companies are
covered by an agreement which allows them to manufacture or import goods for sale overseas
or to certain industries such as the tourism and hospitality trades in Seychelles.
Documentation for the goods coming in to SIBA premises and leaving these premises is
presented to Customs and applicable taxes is collected when goods is placed under home
use procedure, if not exported. Control is a joint effort between SIBA and Customs.
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Transhipment and Transit
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Transshipment procedures facilitate the transfer of goods, under Customs control, from the
importing means of transport to the exporting means of transport within the area of one
Customs office - the office of both importation and exportation.
Goods may be transhipped; for example, aircraft spare parts. These spare parts are brought
into the country for the sole reason of fitting them to an aircraft that will depart from
Seychelles. Sales from “duty free” shops are also treated as transhipped.
Transit procedures on the other hand permit the movement of goods, under Customs control,
from one Customs office (office of entry) to another (office of exit).
Both the transshipment and transit procedures allow goods to be removed under Customs
control without payment of import duties, taxes or levies under certain conditions,
restrictions or time limits that may be determined by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs.
If find necessary, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, depending on the level of revenue
risk involved, may also request that a security, either in the form of a cash deposit, bank
guarantee, insurance guarantee or a combination of security may be provided prior to the
clearance of goods under the transit and transshipment procedures. Furthermore, under the
provisions of prohibited and restricted imports, the entry of certain goods in transit may
be controlled.
For further information on transhipment, please refer to the section entitled
Advices to Agents and
Importers
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Boarding of Ships
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A boarding team is responsible for attending arriving vessels, including Commercial Ships, Yachts,
Passenger Ships and Fishing Vessels. The team is responsible to ensure that all vessels comply
with Seychelles laws and may search cabins, crew, ships and cargo for
prohibited goods
or smuggled goods.
The following forms are to be completed for all vessels:
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Boarding report (Includes basic clearance details of vessel)
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Crew effects declaration (List of all personal goods in their possession)
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Crew list (Detail information of crew)
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Parcel List (List of un-manifest goods)
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Ship stores Declaration (List of goods for stores)
Where ship provide their own documents the information must be suitable for Customs needs or
the documents may be attached to this Customs documents. If areas of the form are not
completed to Customs satisfaction, they are to be returned to the master (or crew member)
for completion.
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Collection of Taxes
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Approximately 260 million rupees in trades tax is collected each year on imported goods
and approximately the same in GST on behalf of the SRC.
Click here to view an example of calculating trades tax and VAT.
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Bonded Goods
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Warehousing is a procedure that enables the suspension of taxes, for imported goods by
storing them in premises or under an inventory system authorized by Customs.
The Inland Revenue is the area of Customs with the administration of private bonded warehouse.
It keeps documentary and physical control over the movement of goods imported into the country
upon which payment of trade tax is deferred by storing in licensed bonded warehouse. The roles
of Inland Revenue are to ensure that:
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All fees are paid and guaranteed or bonds taken out
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All licensed warehouse are adhered to the regulation of Customs
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All goods are properly accounted for and
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Goods are only stored in the bonded warehouse for the amount of time permitted as
per regulation
Any imported goods can be stored in warehouse except free goods that is goods which attract
nil rate of trade tax, provided that the type of goods being warehoused form part of their
conditions of approval. Every movement of goods to or from a bonded warehouse must be covered
by the appropriate Bill of Entry.
Goods are allowed to be warehoused for a period of one year, after which they must be cleared
from the bond or re-warehoused. Goods which have been re- warehoused should be cleared within
two years from the date of the first entry for warehousing.
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Postal Procedures for Clearance of Parcels
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Goods imported by post should be accompanied by a Customs declaration form CN22
or CN23 which include a description of the goods, the value of the goods and whether
it is gift or commercial goods. The parcel will be opened and examined in the
presence of the recipient. The Customs declaration form on the parcel (CN22 or CN23)
will help Customs determine if any dutiable items have been imported to indicate the
amount of duty and taxes to be paid. The liable duty and taxes have to be paid before
the parcel is released to the owner. There are circumstances whereby Customs will
require additional information or documents from the owner to be able to make a
satisfactory assessment of the tax liability before the parcel is cleared.
Clearing of goods by post will require a Bill of Entry for goods:
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which are subject to prohibited and restricted regulation 2014- where the requirement of a permit is essential with the importation;
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having a Customs Value (CIF – cost, freight and insurance) of more than SCR5000/-; where the importation required or do not require an import permit;
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which are to be placed under another Customs approved procedures -such as temporary importation whereby the goods will be exported at a given time;
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which have been endorsed by Customs when exported for repair and replacement;
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which have been exported where payment of VAT and import duties has been paid at the point of entry and the goods will be re-imported by post.
The Postal Service produces a Parcel Slip for each package received which is sent to
the addressee on the parcel. This slip needs to be produced before the parcel is
collected. The customer is required to produce his/ her ID card to verify that he/she
is indeed the owner of the parcel or that the person has been authorized by the owner
to collect the parcel. A Customs Officer will then examine the slip and if satisfied
hand over the parcel.
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Advices to Agents and Importers
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File Size |
Format |
Download |
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SRC Customs Classification Advice for Crisps, Chips and Savoury Food Products
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154KB |
PDF |
Download |
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Advice 01-09 - Processing Concessions on Bills of Entry
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73KB |
PDF |
Download |
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Advice 02-09 - Time Up Cargo
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120KB |
PDF |
Download |
| Advice 03-09 - Deferred Payment |
86KB |
PDF |
Download |
| Advice 04-09 - Transhipment Cargo for Fishing Vessels |
116KB |
PDF |
Download |
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