11.5 million dollars in duties paid for primarily by Virgin Islands residents and collected by customs is confiscated each year by customs in order to cover the additional expenses of collecting the duties. US Virgin Islands law governs the duties that customs is obligated to collect for the territory. According to Senator Nellie O'Reilly, the legislature has tried twice to vote to abolish the duties but failed to get the votes to pass because of fear of losing several customs jobs. it makes no sense for the residents of the Virgin Islands to be taxed 11.5 million dollars each year and not have those funds used in the territory. It is time to force the legislature to abolish this ridiculous tax. Senator O'Reilly says numbers count. Please sign this petition so that we can present it to the legislature and have them do what is right.
