Appliances, equipment and vehicles to Cuba: values, limits and taxes

Appliances and equipment are not valued by weight, like clothes or food, but by the declaration, the invoice or the reference value set by customs. That value counts towards the 1,000 USD luggage limit. The values in force are those in Annex II of Resolution 340 of 2026 of the General Customs of the Republic, in force since October 2026.

Reference values for some equipment

At those values, a refrigerator and a 12,000 BTU air conditioner add up to 500 USD of the 1,000 limit. Anything above the limit can be paid for in dollars as a commercial import, with a 15% duty up to 2,000 USD (Resolution 197 of 2026 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices), or re-exported.

Quantities and authorisations

• Household appliances: up to 2 of the same type, including generators.
• Computers: up to 3; telecommunications or network items: up to 3; mobile phones: up to 5.
• Routers, switches, walkie-talkies, satellite phones, fax machines and wireless microphones appear in Resolution 340 with the note that they require authorisation from the Ministry of Communications.
• Drones: only with prior authorisation from the Civil Aeronautics Institute of Cuba; reference value, 950 USD.

Generators by parcel

Resolution 10 of 2026 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices, in force since 1 February 2026, allows generators of more than 900 W to be imported by parcel above the value limit, paying 30% on the excess. It applies while the conditions that prompted it persist.

Motorbikes, tricycles and electric cars

Decree 163 of 2026 of the Council of Ministers, published in Official Gazette No. 65 (Ordinary) of 4 August 2026, regulates non-commercial vehicle imports by people resident in the country, Cuban or foreign. The importer is therefore the person who lives in Cuba. They may import (article 10):

• Up to 2 electric mopeds or motorbikes with up to two seats (three with a sidecar), as unaccompanied baggage, or 1 by parcel.
• 1 combustion or hybrid motorbike up to 250 cc every five years.
• 1 electric or hybrid tricycle, and 1 combustion tricycle up to 250 cc, every five years.
• 1 fully electric car, once only, exempt from taxes and duties if it comes with its renewable-energy charging station.
• Two full-face helmets per vehicle, tax-free, and light trailers up to 750 kg.

What you pay for a vehicle

Under Resolution 174 of 2026 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices, combustion motorbikes, tricycles, trailers and sidecars may be imported above the value limit by paying duty and services in dollars; electric motorbikes imported directly by a permanent resident pay in Cuban pesos. If the electric car does not come with its renewable charging station, it pays a fixed duty: