Kevin Weatherbee had driven to Red Hook every few days to collect packages of boat parts shipped from the mainland. He didn’t think much of it until mid-April when his new cutting board failed to arrive. It was stuck in a backlog at Cyril E. King Airport. The maelstrom of frustration that followed had Weatherbee throw his hands up and abandon the unopened box.
Weatherbee said he crisscrossed the island in search of forms he’d never needed before that asked questions he wasn’t comfortable answering. He didn’t see why he needed to divulge his Social Security number to prove his single cutting board wasn’t for commercial use or resale.
“I tore up the paperwork, contacted the company that shipped me the $250 item, and told them to keep it,” he said.
Weatherbee wasn’t alone. Confuddled Virgin Islanders have lofted blame for express package delays on numerous entities: the airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, Government House, and even the White House, where President Donald Trump decreed, then delayed, steep tariffs on almost all imports. To confuse matters further, the federal government suddenly ended a policy May 2 that exempted items under $800 from all tariffs.
Shipping brokers in the territory were equally in the dark, wondering why their expedited service had slowed dramatically. One St. Croix broker said they’d received no guidance from local or federal authorities and wasn’t sure what to tell customers.
In an interview Monday, Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue Director Joel A. Lee said there had not been a policy change within the bureau but likely a change in how Customs was processing forms.
Until recently, FedEx, DHL, and other package-handling agencies were allowed to hand over BIR excise tax papers and other forms to the federal authorities after the package had been delivered. That changed, Lee speculated, after the expedited mailing services fell behind.
Unlike Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands is outside the U.S. Customs zone, and shippers like FedEx were likely operating on a skeleton staff given the islands’ sparse population, he said.
Virgin Islands business owners were accustomed to using BIR’s online portal, Lee said. People like Weatherbee were not. Even though personal items are exempt from excise tax, Weatherbee and others collecting nonbusiness parcels needed to fill out forms to match the descriptions on the packages’ bills of lading. When these people attempted to use the antiquated pen-and-paper process, it led to frustration and confusion.
Lee said he had heard from friends and neighbors about the backlog but reiterated that there had been no change in BIR policy other than the people now using it firsthand.
“We do take walk-ins but we’ve been online for years now,” Lee said.
Furthering frustration, many people were awaiting packages containing Carnival costumes and other time-sensitive items.
Weatherbee described the online form as “virtually impossible” for a layman to understand and balked at providing personal information. Again, he was not alone. He estimated there were dozens of people in line at BIR’s Nisky Center office when he arrived.
“Thirty people waiting in line, one person at the window assisting. I don’t have that kind of time and refuse to go through this for a minor item that was supposed to be delivered directly to me. This is going to turn into a train wreck of epic proportions,” he said.
For a week, the Source made multiple attempts to reach DHL, FedEx, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment. DHL acknowledged receiving questions by email but did not provide answers. A public relations firm representing FedEx said multiple times that an explanation was coming, but, as of press time Tuesday, a statement on the situation was still being drafted by corporate officers.
Because neither FedEx nor DHL had replied to requests for comment, it was not completely clear that staffing or company policies were the root of the delays, when the delays started, or if remedies were being planned.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official sent the Source a message Tuesday afternoon saying little more than packages from the mainland and international sources must clear Customs and BIR excise tax hurdles.
The rules on BIR’s website state: “All persons, firms and corporations doing business in the Virgin Islands, except those that are specifically exempt, must pay excise tax on all goods, merchandise, or commodities manufactured in or brought into the Virgin Islands for sale or disposition in the course of a trade or business, for processing or manufacturing, or for any other business purpose.”
Weatherbee, who maintains a law practice in Maine, said importing a vehicle was easier than nonessential parts for his boat.
“I’ve never paid excise tax on stuff I’ve ordered online before,” he said. “You have to go directly to FedEx to pick whatever you’ve had delivered up. And they will tell you you have to clear it in. And you have to go through … It took me less time to clear in a truck than it did a $200 box.”
Virgin Islands Postmaster David Stevens said there had been no change in policy or service within his agency.
