The Directorate General of Customs (DGA) will apply from Wednesday 1st DecemberAnd Until January 7, 2022 A Christmas blessing to release and exempt all kinds of import taxes on those gifts that Dominicans residing abroad brought into the country.

This year’s customs arranged that the cost of gifts should not exceed US$4,000.00, this ceiling is the highest granted in history.

The Directorate of Customs explained in a press release that the main objective of this initiative is to “To reward Dominicans in other countries for their contributions to remittances, while at the same time mitigating the economic impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the world.”

According to the data of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), in the first ten months of the year, incoming remittances amounted to $8,675.1 million, exceeding by more than $2,035 million those recorded in 2020 ($6,639.4 million), This difference equates to a growth of 30.7%; Compared to 2019, when family cash transfers amounted to $5,873.2 million, the increase in 2021 was over 47%, an additional $2,801 million.

Only one blessing per family

DGA Director, Eduardo Sanz Lovaton, noted that only one blessing will apply to each family and that this does not include cars of any kind, firearms and those goods that are industrial or agricultural raw materials, including fuel or its derivatives.

“Under the restrictions imposed by airlines on bringing gifts, they will be permitted to be carried by the means deemed appropriate by the passenger, provided that the FOB value of the goods carried does not exceed the specified amount and is not in commercial quantities, allowing only one unit of each type of goods, especially in the case of household appliances,” DGA explained.

To take advantage of this facility, persons residing abroad, and consignees of shipments, must present themselves to the corresponding customs departments (Collecturías) with their passport, purchase invoices, boarding pass and any other document showing that they are more than six months old without. enter the country. “The procedure will apply as long as the goods are entered within the specified period of the Christmas blessing”, The statement confirms.