The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) wishes to advise members of the public, that effective from 1st August 2017, House Air Way bills including Consignment Notes executed by the Freight Forwarders, Airline Agents, Exporters, Licenced Customs Agents, Cargo Consolidators, Courier Companies and Shipping Agents is subject to $10.00 Stamp Duty per instrument.

The objective of the Stamp Duty on Air way bills is to have an efficient and uniform practice to all forms of legal instrument that serves as the legal document from the sender, shipper and freight forwarder to the receiver of the goods. FRCS will ensure that this is efficiently implemented at all our Offices and international ports whenever the above instrument is executed for export purposes’’, Fiji Revenue & Customs Service Chief Executive Officer Mr. Visvanath Das said.

“Traders and stakeholders are reminded that this is mandatory under the Stamp Duties Act and any breach or non-compliance will result in a maximum fine of up to $25,000 to anyone who makes or executes an air waybill before the payment of stamp duty,” Mr. Das said.

“Our aim is to create a level playing field for all Fijians. There are some very compliant traders who always pay stamp duty on time and it will be unfair on them if we ignore those who do not pay stamp duty before executing those legal instruments,” he said.

“We also had a consultation with Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Council for the smooth implementation of the policy,” he added.

The stamp duty on an air waybill will be denoted by an “adhesive stamp”.

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