Two charges, not one
Landing paving in Aruba means clearing two separate government charges, and buyers who budget for only one get an uncomfortable call from their broker. The first is customs duty, driven by how the goods are classified. The second is turnover tax, which has been levied at the border since 1 August 2023 rather than picked up later in the supply chain. They sit on the same value base but they are not the same charge, and neither is optional. Understanding the order in which they arrive is where a budget you can defend to a client actually starts.
The value they tax
Both charges are worked out on the CIF value: the cost of the goods, plus insurance, plus freight to Aruba. Shipping sits inside the taxable number rather than outside it, which is why a cheap slab moved expensively can land worse than a better slab shipped well. The practical consequences are worth spelling out:
- A lower goods price does not automatically produce a lower tax bill
- Freight paid to a US load port is not the freight figure that matters here
- Insurance belongs in the calculation, so declare it properly rather than hiding it
- Consolidating a part load with other cargo changes the freight share on your line
- Every late change to the packing list can move the number again
The uplift you can design out
This is the invoicing rule worth acting on before anything ships. Where freight and insurance are not shown as separate itemized lines, Aruba Customs applies a surcharge of 16.5 percent to the invoice value for shipments arriving from the Americas. An invoice that quietly bundles shipping into a single delivered figure can therefore be valued upward before duty is even calculated. Ask your supplier to break the document out into goods, freight and insurance, and keep the supporting paperwork with the entry. It is a formatting decision that behaves like a discount.
The duty band and why classification decides it
Aruban customs duty is not one number. Rates vary roughly between 2 and 22 percent depending on the product line, so the classification applied to your stone is what actually sets your bill. Never budget against a rate somebody quoted for a different material in a different year.
- Get an exact product description onto the commercial invoice
- Ask your broker to confirm the classification before the container sails
- Check how finished paving, interior tiles and setts are each being treated
- Keep the classification consistent across repeat orders so entries match
- Confirm the current rate with your broker rather than assuming last season’s
Turnover tax at the border
Since 1 August 2023, turnover tax on imports has been collected at the border as a combined 7 percent. It is built from three components that appear separately in the legislation and often separately on paperwork:
- BBO at 2.5 percent
- BAVP at 1.5 percent
- BAZV at 3 percent
- Applied to the same CIF value that duty is calculated on
- Payable as part of release rather than at some later filing
Currency, quotes and the florin
The Aruban florin is pegged at 1.79 to the US dollar, which takes most of the currency drama out of a US-sourced order. We quote in dollars, ocean freight is priced in dollars, and the peg means a florin budget converts predictably rather than moving under a long lead time. What the peg cannot do is protect you from a classification surprise or a valuation uplift, and those are the two places an Aruban landed cost genuinely moves. Fix them and the exchange side looks after itself. It is still worth agreeing in advance which currency the contract is written in, which one the broker will be invoicing in, and who absorbs any bank charge on the transfer. Those small items have a habit of appearing at the least convenient point in a job, and settling them takes one email at the start rather than three at the end.
Who owns which part
A clean import has three parties who each hold a piece of it, and the gaps appear when each of them assumes another is holding it. Set the responsibilities down in writing before the order is placed:
- Supplier: invoice format, packing list and an accurate description of the goods
- Broker: classification, entry preparation and the exchange with Customs
- Buyer: funds, timing and a decision-maker who is reachable on release day
- Everyone: one shared version of the paperwork rather than three near-identical sets
When those roles are lined up before the vessel arrives, clearance is administrative and dull, which is exactly what you want it to be. When they are not, the stone waits, and waiting cargo is the only line in this budget that buys nothing at all.
Building the number before you commit
Before signing anything, assemble the landed figure in the order Customs will: goods, plus freight, plus insurance, then duty at your confirmed rate, then 7 percent on top of that same value. Run it against paving units you plan to import in more than one thickness, because thickness moves weight and weight moves freight. Then get the figures put in writing so there is a document to work from rather than a memory. A landed cost you can defend line by line is worth far more than a headline price you cannot.