Miscellaneous Taxes Amendment Act 1999
MISCELLANEOUS TAXES AMENDMENT ACT 1999

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BERMUDA
1999 : 18

MISCELLANEOUS TAXES AMENDMENT ACT 1999

[Date of Assent 18 June 1999]

[Operative Date 1 June 1999]

WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Miscellaneous Taxes Act
1976, the Taxes Management Act 1976, the Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates)
Act 1980 and the Tax (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1991 to make
provision for passenger departure tax, and, in consequence, to repeal 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 1999 and shall come into operation on 1 June 1999.

Amendment of the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 re passenger
departure tax
2 After Part VA of the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 there shall be
inserted—

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"PART VB

PASSENGER DEPARTURE TAX

Passenger departure tax: aircraft and passenger ships
32F (1) Passenger departure tax shall be charged in respect
of every passenger departing from Bermuda by aircraft or by
passenger ship.

(2) Tax due under this section shall be collected on or
before departure by the owner, operator or agent of the aircraft
or passenger ship in question and submitted, together with a
return in the prescribed form, to the Commissioner

(a) in respect of passengers departing from
Bermuda by aircraft, within ten days of the end
of each calendar month; and

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

and section 7(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1976 (returns)
shall apply accordingly.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "passenger ship"
has the meaning assigned by section 1 of the Passenger Ships
Act 1972.

Passenger departure tax: pleasure craft
32G (1) Passenger departure tax shall be charged in respect
of every passenger arriving in Bermuda by pleasure craft.

(2) Tax due under this section shall be collected on
arrival by the person responsible and submitted to the
Commissioner forthwith.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "pleasure craft"
means a vessel which at the time of its arrival in Bermuda is
being used for private recreational purposes; and in relation to a
pleasure craft

(a) "passenger" includes any member of the
complement of the pleasure craft, whether crew
or not; and

(b) "person responsible" means the person on board
the pleasure craft under whose command or

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subject to whose personal direction the craft
arrived.

Exemptions
32H (1) Passenger departure tax shall not be payable in
respect of the following persons

(a) children under the age of two years;

(b) the officers and crew of any vessel or aircraft
departing from Bermuda;

(c) persons travelling on behalf of, or at the expense
of, the Government of the United Kingdom or of
any foreign Government;

(d) transit passengers on a continuous journey who,
having arrived in Bermuda by aircraft, depart by
the same aircraft or another aircraft within
twenty-four hours of arrival;

(e) transit passengers who, having arrived in
Bermuda by aircraft, continue their journey by
the next aircraft on which passages are available
to them, their failure to proceed by the former
aircraft having been caused by circumstances
beyond their control and affecting the
conveyance of passengers;

(f) passengers on ships and aircraft which arrive in
Bermuda solely by reason of distress or
emergency;

(g) career consular officers and consular employees
within the meaning of the Consular Relations
Act 1971 and members of their families forming
part of their households who are —

(i) not Commonwealth citizens; and

(ii) not engaged in private occupation for
gain in Bermuda,

if the status of such persons is evidenced by a
certificate issued by the head of the consular post;

(h) passengers on pleasure craft who are bona fide
participants in an event approved by the
Minister for the purposes of this paragraph.

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(2) Where no passenger departure tax is paid in
respect of a person on the basis that he is exempted under this
section, the person rendering the return shall produce such
evidence as the Commissioner may require to satisfy himself that
no tax fell to be paid in the case of such person; and if the
Commissioner is not so satisfied, the person making the return
shall be liable to pay the tax accordingly.

Registration for passenger departure tax
32I (1) The agent of an aircraft that departs from Bermuda
in any month carrying passengers shall—

(a) in the case of a commercial aircraft—

(i) that is operated by a commercial airline
authorized to operate to Bermuda on the
date the Miscellaneous Taxes
Amendment Act 1999 comes into force,
within 30 days of the commencement of
that Act;

(ii) that is operated by a commercial airline
other than one referred to in sub-
paragraph (i), within 30 days of the
commencement of operations to
Bermuda;

(b) in the case of a chartered aircraft within 30 days
of the commencement of operations to Bermuda,

apply in the prescribed form and manner to the Commissioner
for registration under section 6 of the Taxes Management Act
1976 indicating the names of the owner, operator and agent of
the aircraft and the type, nationality, registration marks and
serial number of the aircraft.

(2) 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 visits to Bermuda by that
ship, he shall apply within seven days in the prescribed form
and manner to the Commissioner for registration under section
6 of the Taxes Management Act 1976, indicating the names of
the operator and agent of the ship (if any) in relation to those
visits.

Liability for payment of passenger departure tax
32J For the purposes of the Taxes Management Act 1976,
the owner of an aircraft or passenger ship shall be jointly and

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severally liable with the operator and agent (if any) named under
section 32I for payment of passenger departure tax; 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 aircraft or ship in question.

Penalty for late payment
32K Section 22 of the Taxes Management Act 1976 shall
apply in relation to passenger departure 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".

Refunds of tax in certain cases
32L A person is entitled to a refund of passenger departure
tax if he makes a claim in writing to the Commissioner within 90
days beginning with the date of his departure or, in the case of
pleasure craft, his arrival, and satisfies the Commissioner that
passenger departure tax was paid in respect of him and that he
is exempted under section 32H.

Tax period: passenger departure tax
32M For the purposes of this Part, "tax period" means

(a) a calendar month, in relation to passenger
departure tax payable in respect of passengers
departing by aircraft; and

(b) a week, in relation to passenger departure tax
payable in respect of passengers departing by
passenger ship.

Penalty for non-payment
32N Any person who fails to pay passenger departure tax as
required by this Part is guilty of an offence and liable on
summary conviction to a fine of $25 for each person in respect of
whom the payment should have been made.".

Repeal
3 Part VID of the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 (profession
registration tax) is repealed.

Consequential amendment of other enactments
4 (1) The Taxes Management Act 1976 is amended—

(a) in section 18 (refunds), by adding the following
subsection—

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" (3) This section does not apply to passenger
departure tax.";

(b) in the First Schedule, by deleting the words "Profession
Registration Tax" and by adding at the appropriate place
in alphabetical order "Passenger Departure Tax".

(2) The Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates) Act 1980 is amended—

(a) by inserting after section 9A the following new section—

"Rate of passenger departure tax
9B (1) The rate of passenger departure tax in
respect of travel by air shall be $20 per passenger.

(2) The rate of passenger departure tax in
respect of travel by sea shall be

(a) $15 per passenger travelling by pleasure
craft; and

(b) per passenger travelling by passenger
ship

(i) from 1 April to 31 October, $60;
and

(ii) at other times, nil.";

(b) by deleting section 13A.

(3) After paragraph 4A of the Schedule to the Tax (Accounts
and Records) Regulations 1991 there shall be inserted

"4B Records to be kept by owners, operators and
agents of aircraft and passenger ships for passenger
departure tax

Records setting out the following

(a) the name of the passenger ship or serial
number of the aircraft;

(b) the date of each departure from
Bermuda;

(c) the daily number of passengers
departing during each tax period; and

(d) the number of exempted persons."

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Repeal of Act No 92 of 1972
5 The Passenger Tax Act 1972, which is superseded by the
amendments made by this Act, shall cease to have effect and is hereby
repealed.