The public sector 20% motor vehicle duty concession

For years the 20% motor vehicle duty concession was one of the most valuable benefits a public sector travelling officer had. It still exists, and on many vehicles it still saves real money. But since 1 May 2026 it is worth less than it was, and on some vehicles it is now worth nothing at all. If you hold or expect to hold the concession, this guide sets out the terms as the Ministry of Finance publishes them and shows what the change means at the wharf.

Who can get it

The concession is a remission the Ministry of Finance grants to an individual officer. It is not a band on any rate sheet. It is available to travelling officers who are permanently appointed to a post that attracts upkeep or a fixed travelling allowance. Approval comes from the Ministry, and the approval reaches Jamaica Customs through ASYCUDA, where the dealer or broker clearing the entry can see it. That last point matters: the concession works on a vehicle a licensed dealer imports for you, not only on one you import in your own name.

What the concession does to the assessment

An approved entry is assessed differently from an ordinary one on the first US$35,000 of CIF value.

• Import duty is a flat 20% in place of the band’s own rate.
• SCT is remitted in full.
• GCT is payable. Until 1 May 2026 it was remitted too, but the 2026/27 revenue measures, announced on 12 February 2026, removed that exemption. The Jamaica Information Service report of the measures put it plainly: the 20 per cent import duty remains payable, GCT becomes payable, and the SCT exemption remains.
• Above US$35,000 of CIF, the excess is assessed at the band’s full duty, SCT and GCT. The environmental levy is charged on the whole CIF and the customs administrative fee is unchanged.

The concession does not discount the bill. It splits the CIF into two slices, each compounded on its own base, which is how the calculator prices it.

The open question on the GCT rate

The Budget said GCT becomes payable but did not say at what rate, and no notice has been published since. Motor vehicle bands carry 20% GCT, while the standard GCT rate is 15%, and press reports of the measure said 15%. This site charges the rate the vehicle’s own band already carries, because that is what the concession’s own wording, full duty, SCT and GCT on the excess, means for the slice above the ceiling. If Customs assesses the concessionary slice at 15% instead, the GCT line on a conceded entry will be smaller than the calculator shows. Ask your broker which rate ASYCUDA is applying before you rely on either figure.

Which vehicles, and the conditions

• Motor cars and pickups under 3,000 kg laden weight, with no limit on engine size.
• Cars must be under 5 years old and pickups under 6, which is tighter than the Trade Board’s general age limits on the same vehicles.
• The concession can be used once every 5 years.
• The vehicle cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of within 3 years, or the duties remitted become payable in full.

A note on the pickup weight: the concession’s 3,000 kg limit is laden weight, while the duty bands for pickups use unladen weight. The calculator states that rule rather than checking it, so confirm the laden figure on the export certificate yourself.

Be careful which document you read. The Ministry of Finance’s web page still prints the pre-2013 terms, a US$25,000 ceiling and a 3,000 cc engine cap. The current application form, revised May 2024, and Circular #12 of 24 April 2013 agree against it: US$35,000, and no engine limit. The form and the circular are what Customs applies.

What it is worth now, band by band

With GCT payable again, the relief is the SCT line and the difference between the flat 20% duty and the band’s own duty. That produces three verdicts.

• It saves on any band that carries SCT: a petrol car over 1,000 cc, a diesel car, a pickup over 1,850 kg. The bigger the SCT rate, the bigger the saving.
• It saves nothing on a band that already pays no SCT and 20% duty: a petrol car of 1,000 cc and below, any hybrid, and a compact pickup under 1,850 kg. The concession has nothing left to remit.
• It costs you money on an electric car three years or less since manufacture. That band carries 10% duty and no SCT. The concession replaces the 10% with a flat 20% and remits nothing. GCT is exempt on an EV either way.

A US$30,000 car, with and without

The tables price a used 2.0 litre petrol car, in the 1,001 to 2,000 cc band at 20% duty, 10% SCT and 20% GCT, at US$30,000 CIF and today’s Bank of Jamaica rate of J$157.98 per US$1. The first is an ordinary entry. The second carries the concession, so its whole CIF sits under the US$35,000 ceiling.

The duty line is the same, because this band’s own duty is already 20%. The saving is entirely the SCT line and the GCT that would have been charged on top of it. Before May 2026 the GCT line would have been zero as well, and the concession would have been worth roughly three times as much on this car. That is the size of the change.

On a vehicle priced above US$35,000, only the first US$35,000 is assessed this way. The calculator shows the two slices separately when a price crosses the ceiling. The band’s ordinary aggregate for reference is 58.9% of CIF.

Before you apply

• Run your vehicle through the calculator with the concession box ticked. It prices both ways and says which is cheaper.
• If the vehicle is a hybrid, a small petrol car or a young EV, do not spend the once-in-five-years concession on it.
• Check the age of the vehicle against the concession’s own limits, not only the Trade Board’s.
• Plan to keep the vehicle for three years.
• Ask your broker which GCT rate Customs is applying to the conceded slice.

The calculator handles the split at the ceiling and the verdict for your band, so start there before you fill in the Ministry’s form.