By: Omar Silva, NP Staff Writer

Sunday; 19th February 2023

Floralia Limited, a Belizean bus company, has recently made headlines for securing a 75% import duty and excise tax exemption for six new 2022 Yutong buses, approved by the Ministry of Finance in late 2021 and early 2022. The move has sparked calls from the President of the Belize Bus Association, Thomas Shaw, for the government to offer similar relief to bus operators across the country, as the industry undergoes reforms.

According to Marvin Vanzie, the Director of Floralia Limited, the company paid over $420,000 to import the six buses. Importing vehicles into Belize comes with a cost that must be paid at the point of entry, which varies based on the specifications of the vehicle and its value. The tax base for vehicles in Belize is built upon four different fees: import duty, excise tax, environmental tax, and general sales tax. In most cases, vehicles for public transportation are driven into the country, and even this incurs a cost that must be factored in by the importer.

Floralia's exemption saved them over $128,000 in import duty and over $64,000 in excise duty, in addition to the over $250,000 price tag on each bus. The total duty on all six buses without the exemption would have been over half a million dollars. With the exemption, Floralia was able to invest millions of dollars in new buses that will modernize the country's transportation infrastructure.

However, other bus operators have expressed frustration with the loan facilities offered by the National Bank of Belize. The bank is only willing to lend some operators $150,000 to buy one second-hand bus, despite the cost of a new 2022 bus being around half a million U.S. dollars. Some operators believe that local banks or lending institutions are not willing to facilitate such large loans, and are calling for full duty exemptions to make it easier to acquire new buses.

Despite the challenges faced by bus operators, there are talks of establishing a loan facility for them at the National Bank of Belize. The vision of a few operators is that they could get a good second-hand bus for $150,000, providing they don't have to pay government duties. However, bus operators face challenges in obtaining loans from banks due to the demands for extensive business and personal information about their operations.

The situation raises questions about the government's commitment to modernizing the country's transportation infrastructure and supporting the growth of the industry. While the exemption for Floralia Limited is a positive development, the government must also consider ways to support other bus operators in acquiring new, modern buses to improve public transportation in Belize.

In the end, the commuters of Belize will ultimately have to decide what kind of public transportation is necessary and which we are comfortable with that will take the country’s economy to the next level when we factor regional tourism.