October 4, 2011Dear Sir,The rise in airport customs duty will benefit the Government in the first place, and, to some degree, the retail sector for certain products as well. It will definitely hurt the people who already try to make ends meet, and families in particular. Let's look at some examples:Lets compare a single person and a family of four and a family of six as we are, how the new rates will affect them:Most people travel overseas because they had planned so anyway, not just to go shopping. Tickets still cost between $300 and $500 a person (not per household). Many people travel because they have to for business, visit family or just try to avoid “rock fever”.Lets say our travellers buy goods worth $800. Before the change of the rates, the single person had a $100 allowance and paid 25 percent (which was raised to this a couple of years ago from individual customs tariffs) on the remaining $700 = $175 Customs duty. With the new measures that person will pay 35 percent on the $700 = $245, thus $70 (= 40 percent) more.The family of four would have had $400 allowance and paid 25 percent on the remaining $400 = $100.Now they will pay the same as the single person: $245, thus $145 more (which equals an increase of 145 percent). For a family of six like mine, this means we would pay $195 more Customs duty than before (which would have been $50), thus we will pay almost five times as much (490 percent more)!While the 35 percent instead of 25 percent is already a 40 percent increase of customs duty for Government at the airport, and gives the Government 40 percent more money, the cutting of the allowance to $100 per household instead of per person will really hurt the weakest of all, the families with children, it will hurt a lot those who already struggle due to the economic situation, job losses, and reduced income. You would expect a labour government to be more social think of that. Ms Cox, please leave the allowance as it is! Don't make the Bermudian families with children pay for the deficit. Be content with 40 percent more customs duty!As for the retail sector, they had enjoyed for a long time a quasi-monopoly in Bermuda and thrived with it. However, with the opportunity to travel easier and cheaper (compared to available income) and the Internet and shipping accounts, people have a chance to compare prices and enjoy a bigger variety of products. The dollars they spend overseas would leave the island even if they bought in Bermuda, because all goods come from overseas. And some of the dollars are actually giving work to Bermudians working for Bermudian courier services.I understand that there are additional costs involved for retailers in Bermuda, rents are higher, salaries are higher for the personnel, and there is a slightly higher cost for transport (however, in a container that is just between $4 and $6 a cubic foot for normal goods). Nonetheless, in the US there are sales taxes, which individuals have to pay but exporters usually don't have to pay, and their retailers and their employees pay income tax on their cut as well, which we don't).The retailers, if they are good business people, would not buy their goods in the States at retail price but at wholesale or even directly from the manufacturer, about 30 to 50 percent below retail. However, let's say they only get 25 percent off for some products like computers. Still, why does a computer that costs in the States at retail $400 costs $1,000 in Bermuda? It takes about one to two cubic feet in the container (so $10 for that) you pay duty on the price you paid (retailer paid lets say $350). Thus it costs the retailer less than $500 to bring it into the island on a container including customs duty, thus he added $550 to it and is surprised that people buy online, pay the pretty high air cargo price on it and still save $200 to $300. I think retailers have just to develop more flair, make their products and prices more interesting, improve service (open the shop from 12 noon to 9pm for example) and let people know about it. Why do most advertisements in Bermuda not include the price? I don't have the time to run all over the Island before 5pm to find out what a product costs, I want to know on my fingertips on the internet or in the newspaper advertisement.Don't shout Buy Bermuda and think pity will save the industry. If I get a product in Bermuda for a reasonable price (even 50 percent above retail in US but not at 100 to 200 percent) I would and actually do buy it here. M&Ms are an example of somewhat reasonable pricing, and I bought several things there. They also let people know about their prices in their advertisement, and they are open to 6pm. A lot of the small goods, daily things, food and so on people buy here anyway. For clothing, I always want to try on so I would not buy it online. I want our retail sector to do well, but business should always be a win-win situation and not exploiting a quasi monopoly. I don't want to hurt any feelings and I have friends who run businesses in Bermuda, however, retailers, stop complaining, be creative, and be content with a normal profit. Many people have to live with less these days.FAMILY MANPaget