Cross border travellers using buses towing luggage trailers now entitled to $200 rebate

Travellers in buses towing luggage trailers are now also entitled to $200 rebate on Customs and Excise duty enjoyed by their peers who use private vehicles and buses without trailers. Government, in line with the Constitution, recently amended Statutory Instrument 148 of 2015 which took away that privilege from people travelling in cross-border buses towing trailers.

In terms of SI 148 of 2016, travelling in a bus drawing a trailer automatically classified one as a trader, who was not entitled to enjoy the privilege of the rebate.This was despite the fact that 90 percent of cross-border buses tow luggage trailers because there is another legal requirement barring the use of traditional rooftop luggage carriers.

Through SI 126-2016, gazetted on October 21 this year, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa amended the law to ensure travellers are not discriminated based on the type of vehicles they use when crossing borders.