Duration of benefits

(1) An approved company shall be issued a DPA status for a period of not more than ten years. (2) A company that applies to the DPAC for a DPA status on the first occasion, shall be eligible for all benefits listed under subsection (3), for a period of up ten years. (3) The benefits granted by the DPAC include exemption from– (a) customs and excise duties and taxes; (b) tariffs; (c) consumption tax on imports; (d) trade turnover tax; or (e) property and land tax. 22 (4) A company that applies to the DPAC to renew a DPA status may not be eligible for– (a) all benefits granted by the DPAC; or (b) benefits for a period of up to ten years. (5) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the DPAC may refuse to grant or suspend a benefit, where the DPAC determines that the (a) is not eligible for the grant of the benefit; or (b) has contravened a provision of this Act for which suspension is the prescribed penalty. (6) Where the DPAC suspends a benefit under subsection (5), the DPAC shall give reasons, in writing to the company, for its decision. (7) A company shall be eligible for benefits on an annual quota for fuel if the fuel is utilised in relation to an approved activity and used for– (a) the generation of steam or electricity; or (b) the operation of a water pump. (8) An approved company shall not be eligible for benefits for controlled items. (9) For the purposes of this section– (a) “controlled item” means– (i) firearms and ammunition; (ii) military equipment and materials; or Designated Processing Areas 23 (iii) drugs. (b) “non-controlled item” means any good that is intimately related to the approved activity of the company. (10) An company that receives a benefit for a non-controlled item shall not sell, hire, lend, give away or dispose of the non- controlled item within Belize, except after payment of import duty, stamp duty, excise and revenue replacement duty on the value of the non-controlled item at the date of the transaction as assessed by the Comptroller. (11) An approved company that supplies transit goods to another approved company shall not be liable to the payment of any taxes. (12) For the purposes of this section “transit goods” mean the customs procedure under which imported goods are transferred under customs control from the port of entry to another port for exportation. (13) An approved company that incurs a total net loss over the period as specified in the Certificate of Compliance may carry the loss forward and deduct it against profits in the years following the expiration of the DPA status. (14) A company that contravenes or fails to comply with the requirements of sub-section (10), commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine equal to three times the value of the non-controlled item, as assessed by the Comptroller of Customs or to a fine of twenty thousand dollars, whichever is the greater, and in every case the item shall be forfeited.