Miscellaneous Taxes Amendment Act 1998
MISCELLANEOUS TAXES AMENDMENT ACT 1998

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BERMUDA
1998 : 6

MISCELLANEOUS TAXES AMENDMENT ACT 1998

[Date of Assent 18 March 1998]

[Operative Date 1 April 1998]

WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Miscellaneous Taxes Act
1976, the Taxes Management Act 1976 and the Miscellaneous Taxes
(Rates) Act 1980 to make provision for passenger cabin tax, and, in
consequence, to amend the Passenger Tax Act 1972;

Be it enacted by The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate and the House of Assembly of
Bermuda, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Short title and commencement
1 This Act may be cited as the Miscellaneous Taxes Amendment
Act 1998 and shall come into operation on 1 April 1998; but liability to
passenger cabin tax shall accrue only in relation to passenger ships
visiting Bermuda on or after 1 May 1998.

Passenger cabin tax
2 (1) After Part V of the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 there shall
be inserted—

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"Part VA

PASSENGER CABIN TAX

Passenger cabin tax
32A (1) Passenger cabin tax shall be charged in respect of each
visit by a passenger ship to Bermuda, and shall be payable by
the owner, operator or agent of the ship at the rate prescribed in
the Rates Act calculated by reference—

(a) to the number of passenger cabins on the ship, and

(b) to the number of nights during which the ship is
docked or anchored in Bermuda.

(2) Where a passenger ship visits Bermuda for a period
which does not include a night, it shall be deemed to have been
docked or anchored in Bermuda for one night for the purposes of
calculating the passenger cabin tax.

(3) For the purposes of this Part—

(a) "passenger ship" has the meaning assigned by
section 1 of the Passenger Ships Act 1972; and

(b) the number of passenger cabins on a passenger ship
shall be taken to be such number as may be
specified in the permit granted in respect of that
ship under section 3 of that Act;

(c) "night" means the interval between midnight and six
o' clock in the morning;

(d) a certificate signed by the Director of Marine and
Ports Services as to the number of nights a
passenger ship was docked or anchored in Bermuda
shall be sufficient evidence of that fact; and any
document purporting to be such a certificate shall
be deemed to be such a certificate until the contrary
is proved.

Registration for passenger cabin tax
32B Where the owner of a passenger ship receives a permit
under section 3 of the Passenger Ships Act 1972 (or a copy of
such a permit) in respect of a visit or visits to Bermuda by that
ship, he shall apply within seven days in the prescribed form
and manner to the Collector for registration under section 6 of
the Taxes Management Act 1976, indicating the names of the

MISCELLANEOUS TAXES AMENDMENT ACT 1998

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operator and agent of the ship (if any) in relation to that visit or
those visits.

Payment of passenger cabin tax
32C (1) For the purposes of the Taxes Management Act 1976,
the owner of a passenger ship shall be jointly and severally liable
with the operator and agent (if any) named under section 32B for
payment of passenger cabin tax in respect of a visit to Bermuda
by that ship; and references in that Act to persons chargeable to
tax, or otherwise having obligations in relation to tax, shall be
read as references to the owner, operator or agent of the ship in
question.

(2) A tax return in the prescribed form together with the
passenger cabin tax payable shall be submitted to the Collector
by the owner, operator or agent of a passenger ship within seven
days of the departure of the ship from Bermuda, beginning with
the date of departure; and, accordingly, section 7(1) of the Taxes
Management Act 1976 (returns) shall apply in relation to
passenger cabin tax as if for the words "fifteen days after" there
were substituted "seven days after".

(3) Section 22(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1976
(penalty for late payment) shall apply in relation to passenger
cabin tax as if for the words "for every month, or part of a
month" there were substituted "for every week, or part of a
week".

Power to modify tax liability in exceptional circumstances
32D The Collector may waive or vary any liability to passenger
cabin tax where that liability relates to a passenger ship which is
forced to make an unscheduled visit to Bermuda or stay in
Bermuda longer than scheduled due to any act of God, war, riot,
civil commotion, strike or lock-out.

Tax period: passenger cabin tax
32E Each visit by a passenger ship to Bermuda shall be a
separate tax period in relation to that ship for the purposes of
this Part."

(2) In the First Schedule to the Taxes Management Act 1976
(taxes to which that Act applies) there shall be added at the appropriate
place in alphabetical order—

"Passenger cabin tax".

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(3) After section 9 of the Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates) Act 1980
there shall be inserted—

"Rate of passenger cabin tax
9A (1) The rate of passenger cabin tax shall be—

(a) $8 per passenger cabin per night from 1 May to 31
August;

(b) $4 per passenger cabin per night from 1 September
to 31 October; and

(c) from 1 November to 30 April—

(i) $4 per passenger cabin per night in
respect of passenger ships for the time
being listed in Schedule 2; and

(ii) nil in respect of other ships.

(2) The Minister of Tourism may, by order subject to the
negative resolution procedure, amend Schedule 2 so as to add or
delete passenger ships from the list in that Schedule."

(4) The Schedule to the Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates) Act 1980
shall be renumbered as Schedule 1, and after that Schedule there shall
be added—

"SCHEDULE 2 (section 9A)

Passenger Ships

The following are the passenger ships in respect of which
passenger cabin tax is payable at the rate specified in section
9A(1)(c)(i):

The Norwegian Crown".

Consequential amendments
3 (1) In section 1(4) of the Passenger Tax Act 1972 (time for
payment of passenger tax), for the word "forthwith" there shall be
substituted—

"(a) in respect of passengers departing from Bermuda by
passenger ship, within seven days, beginning with
the date of departure; and

(b) in respect of other passengers, forthwith."

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(2) In section 1(6) of that Act, after the definition of "passenger"
there shall be inserted—

" "passenger ship" has the meaning assigned by section 1 of
the Passenger Ships Act 1972;".

Transitional provision
4 Where, on the coming into operation of this Act, a permit has
been granted under section 3 of the Passenger Ships Act 1972 in respect
of a visit by a passenger ship to Bermuda on or after 1 May 1998, section
32B of the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 (as inserted by section 2 above)
shall apply in such a case as if for the reference to a period of seven days
from receiving the permit there were substituted a reference to a period
of thirty days from the coming into operation of this Act.