The question in the title has a published answer, and it is better than the usual advice to "be specific". The Guyana Revenue Authority charges clearance on personal effects per box, and the rate depends on the size of the box. That single fact tells you what your list has to establish, box by box, before anyone reads a word of your item descriptions.
The charge is per box, and the box size sets the rate
The Authority publishes rates for clearing personal effects shipped in boxes. Read on 6 October 2026, under a section the site labels Personal Effects, the published rates are:
- Small box: GYD 1,500 per box
- Average box: GYD 2,000 per box
- Medium box: GYD 2,500 per box
- Large box: GYD 3,000 per box
- Extra large, including bin boxes: GYD 4,000 per box
Converted at 1 USD = 209.22 GYD, the Bank of Guyana rate for 7 October 2026. Note what this is not: it is not a rate per shipment and not a rate per kilogram. The number of boxes multiplies the charge, so how you pack is itself a cost decision — and an accurate count and size per box is the first thing your list must get right.
One date you should carry with these figures
The table these rates come from is headed NEW RATES and does not say from when. That is the Authority's own wording. The date above is therefore the day the page was read, not an effective date, and it is the honest limit of what anyone can tell you. Before you ship, open the page again and compare — this is precisely the kind of schedule that changes without an announcement.
Why these are Guyana dollars and not US dollars
The page does not write a currency against the clearance rates; it writes a bare dollar sign. It is still certain which currency is meant, because the same page writes US dollars explicitly for the value threshold described below and a bare sign for these rates. The document distinguishes the two itself, which is the only reason we are willing to state it.
The value line that decides which form you file
The same page sets a value threshold of US$500, below which form C73 suffices. That is a second published decision point, and it is about value rather than size.
So two published things depend on what your list says: the size and count of the boxes, which set the clearance charge, and the declared value, which decides whether the simpler form applies. Those are the two questions to answer for every box, in that order. Everything else is presentation.
What the Authority does not publish
There is no published field-by-field packing list specification that we could read. No required column set, no mandated unit for weight or dimensions, no stipulated format. The earlier version of this page presented a list of required fields and a worked example box, complete with a weight, three dimensions and a value, as though it came from a regulation. It did not, and it is gone.
Also gone: a tax rate. The Authority's site carries headings for its tax services, but no rate for a tax on imported personal effects appeared on any page we were able to read, so this article quotes none. Ask the Authority or a licensed broker what applies to your shipment, and get it in writing with the goods described.
How to write the list, given what is published
Work backwards from the two decision points rather than from a template:
- Number every box and write the number on the box itself, so a count can be verified without opening anything.
- Record the size class you are claiming per box, with the actual measurements beside it, because the rate is read off the size and a dispute about size is a dispute about money.
- Give a value per box, not only a total, so the US$500 threshold can be applied without anyone re-adding your figures.
- Describe contents concretely enough to be recognized on opening. A category name that could cover anything invites the box being opened.
- Put one copy inside each box and one outside, and keep a full set yourself.
- Do not inflate or deflate values. The value you declare is the value the threshold is tested against.
What expats should know
- Clearance is charged per box, from GYD 1,500 for a small box to GYD 4,000 for an extra large one.
- The intermediate published rates are GYD 2,000, GYD 2,500 and GYD 3,000 for average, medium and large boxes.
- Fewer, larger boxes is a different bill from many small ones. Decide that before you pack.
- The rates carry no effective date. The table is headed NEW RATES; our date is the day it was read, 6 October 2026.
- Form C73 applies below a value of US$500. Declare value per box so the line can be applied.
- There is no published packing list specification. Any required-field list you are shown is someone's template, not a rule.
- We quote no tax rate. None was published on the pages we could read.
- Re-read the rate page before you ship, and keep a copy of what it said on the day you shipped.
Where to check
The per-box clearance rates, the value threshold and the form reference are from the Guyana Revenue Authority's personal effects pages, read on 6 October 2026. The Authority's wider customs and tax services are indexed from its main site. Confirm the current rates, and what tax applies to your goods, with the Authority or a licensed broker before you ship.
AI-Generated Content: This article was created with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important information with official sources.
