Dock duty in St. Barths: rates, calculation and exemptions

Dock duty (droit de quai) is the tax the island’s government collects on any goods entering St. Barths, by sea or by air. The rate is 5% of customs value, 8% for land motor vehicles and 30% for trucks over fourteen metric tons. Because the island has no VAT, dock duty is its economic equivalent.

What is dock duty calculated on?

The base is not the purchase price but the customs value, meaning the value of the item once delivered to the island. It adds up:

• the price paid;
• shipping;
• insurance;
• handling to the island.

The duty is paid by the declarant, the person who files the customs declaration. When the declaration is filed on behalf of someone else (indirect representation), that person is also liable.

What are the dock duty rates in St. Barths?

Goods	Rate
General case	5%
Land motor vehicles	8%
Trucks over fourteen metric tons	30%

These rates apply to customs value. For trucks, the fourteen-ton threshold refers to gross vehicle weight.

Electric vehicles no longer receive special treatment: their exemption was removed on January 1, 2025. They carry the 8% rate.

Example: dock duty on furniture and a car

Take Claire, who is moving to the island and ships over furniture and a car. The amounts are assumptions, chosen for illustration only.

Step	Furniture	Car
Price paid	€40,000	€30,000
Shipping, insurance, handling	€6,000	€2,000
Customs value	€46,000	€32,000
Rate	5%	8%
Dock duty	€2,300	€2,560

Claire pays €4,860 of dock duty in total. Had she worked from the purchase prices alone, she would have budgeted €4,400 (€2,000 for the furniture, €2,400 for the car). Getting the goods to the island therefore adds €460 of duty.

Later on, if Claire sends a piece of equipment off the island for repair, dock duty on its return will apply to the cost of the repair, not to the value of the item, which was already taxed when it first came in.

Which goods are exempt from dock duty?

Three categories fall outside dock duty:

• everyday consumer products on the list attached to the island’s price moderation agreement;
• fuel for the power plant;
• goods under temporary admission, meaning goods re-exported within three months. The period is two months for vehicles. Jewelry and watches worth less than €15,000 are excluded from this regime.

Temporary admission is not automatic: it requires an authorization, granted on request, and the item must leave again without having been altered.

Two further rules apply. Goods are taxed only once. And when an item leaves the island to be repaired or converted, it is the cost of that repair or conversion that is taxed on its return.

Why is there no VAT in St. Barths?

St. Barths is outside the territorial scope of French VAT. From the European Union’s standpoint, the island has been an overseas country and territory since January 1, 2012: it sits outside the Union’s customs and tax territory.

The consequences are practical:

• no VAT applies to local transactions;
• island businesses have no EU VAT number;
• French VAT paid upstream cannot be deducted: it becomes a cost, apart from the export refund procedure for goods shipped out;
• goods shipped from the island to France or the EU are exports, subject to VAT and import duties on arrival.

Every import into the island triggers dock duty and customs formalities, handled by the customs office in Gustavia.

Dock duty, a cost to build into any investment

Dock duty is added to the price of everything that arrives on the island: a vehicle, building materials, the furnishings of a villa. It is part of the cost of an investment, just as shipping is. It is separate from port and airport taxes, which are governed by other articles of the tax code.

It fits the broader logic of the island’s tax system, which rests on consumption and real estate rather than income. For a real estate project, it comes on top of the duties described in our insight on buying property.

Dock duty: common mistakes

• Calculating the duty on the purchase price alone, leaving out shipping, insurance and handling.
• Assuming electric vehicles are still exempt.
• Overrunning the temporary admission period: three months, two for a vehicle.
• Forgetting that a repair carried out off the island is taxed on its cost.
• Expecting to recover French VAT paid on a purchase: apart from the export refund procedure, it remains a cost.
• Assuming the absence of local VAT covers every transaction: a service provided to a client established in France may fall within French VAT, as explained in our insight on invoicing French clients.

Dock duty: the bottom line

Dock duty is the tax collected in St. Barths on any imported goods, by sea or by air: 5% of customs value, 8% for land motor vehicles and 30% for trucks over fourteen metric tons. Customs value includes the price paid plus shipping, insurance and handling to the island, not the purchase price alone. The exemption for electric vehicles was removed on January 1, 2025; goods under temporary admission are exempt if they are re-exported within three months, or two months for vehicles. Because the island is outside the scope of VAT, dock duty is its economic equivalent. Any relocation or construction project should be costed with dock duty included.

A note for U.S. readers: this article covers French and St. Barths rules only. U.S. citizens and green card holders remain subject to U.S. tax on their worldwide income wherever they live.