TCI News
TCI: Amnesty offer good news for 41 resorts and restaurants, Major money break to businesses
#Providenciales, March 6, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – Three amendments are passed in the House of Assembly and 41 companies stand to benefit from an Amnesty and so does TCIG, according to the Minister of Finance and Premier, Sharlene Robinson.
“This amnesty applies to three different scenarios; businesses that have collected taxes and have not remitted it, Beaches that had an agreement from 1997 to pay on 60 percent and I say agreement, because while I have not seen it written, it was an agreement where we were receiving it and they were paying it, they were audited on 100 percent and that is why we are here. Club Med I should say to you had a development agreement, they were paying 40 percent, that has since expired and they too were assessed on 100 percent. We are not writing off principles, an amnesty is for those who apply for it, I’ve said to you what the principle amount is if the persons were to take advantage of it in the 30 days and then of course there is a sliding scale and there are steps that must be taken by those who want to take advantage of this amnesty. It is a clean-up exercise.”
The Amnesty, shared the Premier does not apply to principal but to the penalties levelled against all-inclusive resort, namely Beaches Turks and Caicos, which claimed to be overcharged by the Revenue Control Unit of Ministry of Finance.
“In a perfect world, if everyone pays within the first month and if we have full 100 percent of arrears paid in principle, we would have $29.6m. But everyone of the 41 businesses will not do that,” said the premier last night in response to concern from the Opposition Leader and Member for the Bight.
During the vote on the Hotel & Restaurant Tourism Taxation Amnesty – there was full support from PDM members but an abstention by the Opposition side.
The Premier expressed that the PDM Administration without regret would support any amnesty which allows business in the Turks and Caicos Islands to progress, adding in her wrap up on Monday night that the Revenue Unit will be collecting all of what is owed in principal to the TCI.
“We have 15 that have paid the entire principle amount, 19 that have made no payments, seven that have been referred to the Attorney General but Beaches and Club Med collectively account for 96 percent.”
The companies on the list to benefit from the Amnesty will now have to apply for the ‘write off’ of interest and other penalty charges. Each will have 30 days to pay their debt to government or face new penalties for breach of the amnesty.
Locally owned companies also stand to benefit from the Amnesty, although Beaches Resort and its announcement of indefinite closure has grabbed the most spotlight in this matter which has gone unresolved for years.
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Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 20 February 2026 — The Informal Settlements Unit (ISU), in collaboration with key
government agencies, coordinated a multi-agency enforcement exercise on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at Block and Parcel 60609/33 in the Five Cays area.
The exercise was led by the Crown Land Unit, pursuant to its statutory mandate under the Crown Land Ordinance to prevent squatting and encroachment on Crown land. The ISU coordinated the operation, with support provided by the Planning Department and the Turks and Caicos Islands Border Force, while the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force ensured security throughout the activity.
The enforcement action followed a series of inspections conducted by the Crown Land Unit throughout Five Cays, which identified several illegally constructed buildings made of concrete and timber on sections of the subject parcel. In keeping with the provisions of the Crown Land Ordinance, occupied structures were served Letters of Illegal Occupation, delivered by hand to occupants and
posted on structures where individuals were absent. Incomplete and unoccupied structures were served Notices of Unauthorized Occupation pursuant to section 22 of the Ordinance. A total of ten (10) Letters of Illegal Occupation and three (3) Notices of Unauthorized Occupation were issued during the exercise.
The Informal Settlements Unit reiterates that these coordinated enforcement exercises form part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to uphold the law, protect Crown land, and manage informal settlements in a structured and lawful manner. Members of the public are reminded that unauthorised occupation and development on Crown land is unlawful and subject to enforcement action.
Almost two million visitors recorded in 2025
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS – The Turks and Caicos Islands saw an increase in stayover arrivals in December, seven percent higher than the corresponding period in 2024.
Preliminary data suggests that stay over arrivals by air for the month of December was 66,427 in comparison to 62,610 in December 2024.
From January to December 2025, preliminary visitor arrival numbers totalled 640,754; on par with the number recorded for the same period of 2024.
Stay Over Arrivals YTD December 2024/2025
The first quarter of the calendar year attracted the largest number of arrivals with visitor arrivals three percent higher than the first quarter of 2024. Reduced airlift from the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably the Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue services, was however felt from the second quarter (April to June). As a result, visitor arrivals dropped three percent in the second quarter.
By the third quarter of this year (July to September), geopolitical and economic conditions in the key source markets, namely the United States, led to further contraction of arrivals. In the last quarter of 2025, arrivals were impacted in October due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa but additional airlift from the USA and Canada resulted in an increase in arrivals in November and December.
Mr. Paul Pennicook, Interim CEO Consultant of Experience Turks and Caicos, said December’s increase in stayover arrivals is an encouraging indicator of the sustained interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a premier destination.
“While we note and continue to monitor geopolitical shifts that affect us, Experience Turks and Caicos is focused on increasing marketing initiatives in our primary source markets. We have spent the last two years investing in groundwork such as crucial travel advisor training to assist them in selling the destination more effectively. In the next fiscal, we will be building on those initiatives with co-op activities with partners as well as out of home advertising to increase visitation to our destination,” he said.
In Cruise, the preliminary count of passenger arrivals for the month of December 2025 was 129,346, a 22 percent increase over last December. This growth follows the berthing of 11 additional ships in Grand Turk this month.
From January to December, the cruise sector continued to outperform the same period last year, as the 1.3 million total cruise passengers recorded, marks a five percent Year-on-Year increase. 
The cruise sector experienced significant growth in the first quarter of 2025, with passenger arrivals surpassing last quarter by 53 percent. In the second and third quarter however, several cruise lines adjusted their itineraries as vessels were pulled from the fleet or from the Caribbean region, which resulted in fewer passengers.
Arrivals dropped seven percent and 10 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Double digit growth was recorded in the last two months of Quarter 4. This growth however, was not sufficient to outweigh the drop in arrivals experienced in October, following the cancellation of cruise calls due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Despite the late-quarter rebound, arrivals for the final quarter of 2025 closed six percent below the same period in 2024.
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