What it costs to import a Toyota Voxy to Jamaica

The Voxy is a seven or eight seat minivan with sliding rear doors, sold alongside its near twin, the Noah. It is bought in Jamaica as a large family car and by operators who want more seats than a sedan without the cost of a bus. This page prices it as a motor car, which is how a family minivan of this size is usually entered. The Trade Board’s age table lists buses for up to eight people alongside cars, so the six-year age limit applies whichever way it is classed.

The band it lands in

Recent Voxy generations use a 2.0 litre petrol engine of 1,986 cc. That is 14 cc under the line where the dealer sheet’s middle petrol band ends, so the Voxy pays 20% import duty, 10% SCT and 20% GCT, an aggregate of 58.9%. A petrol car over 2,000 cc pays 20% SCT instead and comes to 73.3%, so those 14 cc are worth 14.4% of CIF.

What a Toyota Voxy costs to clear

The table prices a 2021 Toyota Voxy 2.0 L petrol minivan at an example CIF of US$17,500 to Kingston, converted at today’s Bank of Jamaica selling rate of J$159.75 per US$1. Each line is calculated the way Jamaica Customs assesses it: import duty on CIF, SCT on CIF plus duty, GCT on the total of all three, then the 0.5% environmental levy on CIF and the flat customs administrative fee for a used vehicle.

On these figures the customs charges alone come to J$1,715,623, which is 61.4% of the CIF value. Add the vehicle price itself and the landed cost is J$4,511,248 before the broker, the wharf and the registration office have been paid.

How the bill moves with the price

Every charge except the customs fee is a percentage of CIF, so the bill moves almost in step with the price you pay. The same vehicle at 15% less and 15% more than the example price:

• At US$14,875 CIF, the customs charges are J$1,468,630 and the landed cost is J$3,844,911.
• At US$17,500 CIF, the customs charges are J$1,715,623 and the landed cost is J$4,511,248.
• At US$20,125 CIF, the customs charges are J$1,962,617 and the landed cost is J$5,177,585.

The exchange rate works the same way. Customs converts CIF at the Bank of Jamaica rate on the day of clearance, not the day you paid the exporter, so a rate that moves one dollar between purchase and clearance moves this bill by about 0.6% of the J$ total. The exchange rate guide explains how to budget for that.

The alternative worth pricing

The Voxy has also been sold as a 1.8 litre hybrid. As a hybrid car it clears at 44.5%, 14.4% of CIF less than the petrol version, and on a vehicle at this price that is a substantial sum. Seats matter too: a vehicle classed as a bus is assessed at different rates, so if you are considering a larger people carrier for route work, read the Hiace example and ask your broker how it will be classified.

What this estimate leaves out

The figures above are the government charges and nothing else. Before the vehicle is yours to drive you will also pay a licensed customs broker to prepare and lodge the entry, wharfage and handling at the port, trucking from the wharf, then registration, licensing and a fitness certificate at the Tax Administration and Island Traffic Authority offices, and motor insurance. If you import through a dealer, the dealer’s own fee sits on top. None of these has a published tariff, so ask for a written quote and read the costs beyond customs guide for what to expect.

Check before you pay a deposit

• The year of manufacture is inside the Trade Board age limit for the category, counted at the time of import, not the time of purchase.
• The engine displacement, fuel type and unladen weight on the export certificate match the listing. Customs bands on the certificate.
• The price is CIF to Kingston. If it is FOB, add freight and insurance before you run the numbers, or switch the calculator to FOB and let it add them.
• The vehicle has a pre-shipment inspection certificate and is not described as accident-repaired, flood-damaged or salvaged.

The band this page uses is “Petrol · Exceeding 1,000 cc, not exceeding 2,000 cc” on the dealer sheet revised 1 April 2020. Rates change by ministerial order, so if a newer sheet has been published since, your broker will assess on that one.