Once it is gone, you may not be able to afford to get it back.

Introduction

A birthright is a benefit inherited generally from birth or privileges as a citizen of a country. I think the first story about someone selling their birthright was the story of Esau and his brother Jacob. Esau and Jacob were twins, but Esau was older than Jacob and so Esau inherited the birthright as the oldest child. One day Esau was so hungry that he sold his birthright to Jacob for some of the stew that Jacob cooked. Jacob did not have to do that, he could have simply offered his brother that stew for free but no, he asked Esau to sell him, his birthright.

A birthright is a privilege and once you let it go, it will be hard to get it back. In fact, you may not be able to get it back because it will cost you more and you may not be able to pay for it.

Some of you may perhaps are asking what birthright you have. Despite how it appears, there are some privileges that are just for you as citizens of the country. One of those privileges is the reserved categories.

Reserved Categories

There are ninety (90) categories of the business licences that are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. Please do not sell your birthright by fronting for other individuals. There is nothing wrong with having a partnership but make sure that you are not only the majority shareholder on paper but in the business. Get involved in the business and put most of the funds towards the business. Stop selling your birthright for $1,000 or $1,500 per month.

The following reserved categories are as follows:

Automotive

Under automotive section of the business licence, six of the seven categories are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders.  These categories are auto accessories, auto dealership, car wash and auto detailing, motorcycle sales and repairs, motor vehicle rental, motor vehicle service, repairs, and parts.

Marine

Under the marine section of the business licence, there are three categories reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. These are marine accessories and part sales, marine vessel for hire that is less than 30ft, and marine vessel sales.

Agriculture, Manufacturing and Processing

Under the agriculture, manufacturing and processing, there are two categories that are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders namely a bakery and native art and craft specialty stores.

Health & Medicine

Under the health and medicine, there are fifteen (15) categories reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. The categories are environmental and sanitation services, funeral home and mortuary services, medical diagnostic imaging services, medical laboratory services, medical practice less than 5 staff, mental health services, pest control services, pharmacy services, sole practitioner medical service, sole practitioner dental and orthodontics service, sole practitioner chiropractic, sole practitioner physiotherapy, sole practitioner veterinary and sole practitioner optomery.

Personal care services

There are four reserved categories under personal care services which are barber shops, cleaning, maid and janitorial services, dry cleaners and laundromat and hair braiding.

Transportation services

Under the transportation category, there are six categories that are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. Those categories are bus service – mass transportation, ground handling operations, jitney/bus services, taxi services, trucking, towing, and hauling services and VIP Transport.

Fuel and Energy

There are two reserved categories under fuel and energy. These categories are alternative equipment sales and installation, gas and energy service station. The business licence for gas and energy service stations is cheaper on the islands other than Provo and Grand Turk.

Mechanical, Engineering and Construction

There are five reserved categories under Mechanical, Engineering and Construction namely Contractor petty, contractor small, contractor medium, and contractor plumber and maintenance/cleaning services.

Entertainment, Recreation and Events

There is one category reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders and that is dance hall/discotheque. Everything else is open.

Tourism, Real Estate and Hospitality Services

Under this category, there are fourteen categories reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. These are agency (sales, freight forwarding), bar that do not form part of hotel or restaurant, bicycle rentals sales repairs, echo heritage tours and camping sites, helicopter tours, horseback riding, land base tour, marriage officer services, mobile food sales, property management, real estate agency, travel agency, water tours less than 30ft per boat and water tours more than 30ft per boat,

Education and Training

There are no reserved categories under education and training.

Professional, legal, and business services

There are twenty reserved categories under professional, legal and business services. These categories are accountancy and bookkeeping other professional qualified accountants, architect firms 1 – 3 architects, auctioneer, accounting firm 1 – 3 professionals,  courier services domestic, customs brokerage, debt collection and repossession services, draftsman, human resource recruitment/employment services, immigration consultancy, law practice 1 -3 lawyers, marketing, advertising and public relations, security services, sole practitioner accountant, sole practitioner lawyer, sole practitioner financial brokerage, sole practitioner architect, sole practitioner surveying professional, sole practitioner professional engineering services, professional engineering consultant and surveying technician.

Communication and Advertising

The two categories reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders under this category are radio broadcasting and television broadcasting.

Wholesale and retail sales

There are six categories that are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. These are bookstores, retail and wholesale less than 1000sqft, retail and wholesale between 1000sq ft and 2000 sq ft, retail and wholesale between 2000sq ft and 10,000 sq ft and retail over 10,000 sq ft and vending retail.

Miscellaneous

There are two categories that are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islands. These categories are electronic repair and repair and pawn shops.

Conclusion

I believe the reserved categories were reviewed and updated in 2014/15. As a result, some individuals who were not Turks and Caicos Islanders were grandfathered since they already were conducting business.

This year the Government has cracked down on business licence applications. For example, the Government was not approving any business licence for small, petty and medium construction if all the parties were not Turks and Caicos Islanders. The Government has also enforced the requirement for the real estate market.

The list above is part of your birthright, do not sell them. You have the opportunity to become the movers and shakers in this place.