Revenue Amendment Act 2000
REVENUE AMENDMENT ACT 2000

1

BERMUDA
2000 : 30

REVENUE AMENDMENT ACT 2000

[Date of Assent 11 July 2000]

[Operative Date 8 November 2000]

WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the Revenue Act 1898.

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 Revenue Amendment Act 2000 and
shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by
notice published in the Gazette.

Interpretation
2 In this Act, "the principal Act" means the Revenue Act 1898.

Section 2 of the principal Act amended
3 Section 2 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, in its
appropriate alphabetical position, the following definition

""customs declaration" means any declaration made for the
purposes of entering goods for importation or

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exportation in a form prescribed by the Collector of
Customs pursuant to section 16(1);".

Section 14 of principal Act amended
4 Section 14 of the principal Act is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the
following subsections

" (1) Upon the entry of any goods the importer, his
agent or the consignee of the goods, as the case may be,
shall at the time of entering the goods produce,
subscribe, declare to and deliver to the Collector of
Customs, or Assistant Collector of Customs, or other
proper officer, whose duty it is to require them, a
customs declaration in such form as the Collector of
Customs may prescribe pursuant to section 16.

(1a) Such declaration shall be accompanied with
invoices, bills of lading and such other documents
relating to the goods as the Collector of Customs may
require.";

(b) in subsection (4), by deleting "subsection (1)" and
substituting "subsection (1) or (1a)".

Section 15 of principal Act amended
5 Section 15 of the principal Act is amended

(a) in the section heading, by deleting "Disposal of
duplicates of bill of entry;" ;

(b) by repealing subsection (1);

(c) in subsection (2), by deleting "The person making such
entry as aforesaid" and substituting "Upon the entry of
any goods, the person making such entry"; and

(d) in subsection (3), by deleting "some Act" and
substituting "this Act or any other Act".

Section 16 of principal Act amended
6 Section 16 of the principal Act is amended by repealing
subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection

" (1) The Collector of Customs, or other proper officer, may
require the persons entering any goods to make such customs
declaration in such form and containing such declaration as the
Collector of Customs may prescribe by notice published in the

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Gazette; and the Collector may prescribe different customs
declarations for different categories of persons or for different
purposes.".

Part IIA inserted in principal Act
7 The principal Act is amended by inserting the following Part after
Part II—

"PART IIA

SIMPLIFIED CUSTOMS PROCEDURES

Simplified procedures
35A The Collector of Customs may in respect of authorised
persons modify the application of sections 9, 14, 15, 16 , 57 and
65 in relation to goods and merchandise imported by such
persons into Bermuda or exported from Bermuda in such
manner as he considers appropriate ('simplified procedures').

Application for authority to use simplified procedures
35B (1) A person to whom this section applies who wishes
to avail himself of simplified procedures may make application to
the Collector of Customs in such manner as he may direct.

(2) Such application shall be accompanied with such
documents, reports and information as the Collector of Customs
may reasonably require for the purposes of determining the
application.

(3) This section applies to any person carrying on a
trade or business which consists of any of the activities set out
in paragraphs 1(1)(a) to (e) of the Schedule.

Grant and refusal of applications for authorisation
35C (1) Subject to this section, the Collector of Customs
may grant or refuse an application for authorisation to use
simplified procedures.

(2) The Collector of Customs shall not grant an
application for authorisation to use simplified procedures unless
he is satisfied that the applicant fulfils the following criteria

(a) the applicant is a fit and proper person to be
authorised to use simplified procedures;

(b) the applicant has satisfactory electronic or other
systems in place that will enable him to submit
by such means all documents and information

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required under this Act to be submitted to the
Collector of Customs; and

(c) the applicant has satisfactory record-keeping
systems and controls in place that will enable
him to comply with the requirements of the
Schedule.

Conditions of authorisation
35D (1) It shall be a condition of every authorisation
granted under section 35C(1) that the authorised person shall at
all times fulfil the criteria set out in section 35C(2).

(2) The Collector of Customs in granting an
authorisation under section 35C(1) may make it subject to such
other conditions as he considers appropriate for protecting the
revenue.

(3) The Collector of Customs may of his own motion or
on the application of an authorised person vary or withdraw any
condition imposed under subsection (2).

Revocation of authorisation
35E (1) The Collector of Customs may revoke an
authorisation granted under section 35C(1) if he is satisfied
that

(a) the criteria specified in section 35C(2)

(i) are not or have not been fulfilled; or

(ii) may not be or may not have been fulfilled ;

in respect of the authorised person;

(b) the authorised person has failed to comply with
any condition of the authorisation;

(c) it is appropriate to do so in the interests of the
revenue; or

(d) the authorisation is no longer required.

(2) The Collector of Customs shall serve an authorised
person with notice in writing of revocation, and the revocation
shall have effect from the date of the notice.

Right of appeal to the Minister
35F (1) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Collector of
Customs to

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(a) refuse his application for authorisation pursuant
to section 35C(1);

(b) impose a condition on his authorisation
pursuant to section 35D(2);

(c) vary a condition of his authorisation pursuant to
section 35D(3);

(d) revoke his authorisation pursuant to section
35E(1);

(e) refuse to permit a record to be preserved by him
for a lesser period of time pursuant to
paragraphs 2(2) and 3(b) of the Schedule;

(f) specify other records to be kept by him pursuant
to paragraph 3(a) of the Schedule;

(g) impose requirements on him for the preservation
of information by approved means pursuant to
paragraph 4(2) of the Schedule;

may appeal against the decision to the Minister in accordance
with this section.

(2) An appeal shall be brought by sending a notice of appeal
to the Minister at any time within twenty-one days from the date
of notification of the decision.

(3) A notice of appeal shall be signed by or on behalf of the
appellant and shall contain the following particulars

(a) the appellant's name and address;

(b) a statement of the grounds of appeal containing
sufficient particulars to show why the appellant
considers the decision appealed against was
unlawful or not justified by the evidence on
which it was based.

(4) The appellant shall upon sending a notice of appeal to
the Minister, send a copy of the notice to the Collector of
Customs.

(5) On any such appeal, the Minister may confirm or reverse
the decision appealed against.

(6) The Minister shall give notice in writing to the appellant
of his decision, together with a statement of his reasons, not
later than twenty-eight days from the date of receiving the notice
of appeal.

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(7) The revocation of an authorisation shall not have
effect

(a) until the end of the period within which the
appeal may be brought, or

(b) if such an appeal is brought, until its
determination or withdrawal.

(8) A person aggrieved by a decision of the appeal by the
Minister may appeal to the Supreme Court on any question of
law arising from the decision of the appeal by the Minister; and if
the Court is of the opinion that the decision was erroneous in
point of law it shall remit the matter to the Minister for
determination by him.".

Section 60 of principal Act repealed
8 Section 60 of the principal Act is repealed.

Section 98A inserted in principal Act
9 The principal Act is amended by inserting the following section
after section 98

"Customs traders: record-keeping requirements
98A (1) The Schedule has effect with respect to record-
keeping requirements in relation to a customs trader.

(2) In this section, "customs trader" means the person
referred to in paragraph 1(2)(b) of the Schedule.".

Section 99 of principal Act amended
10 Section 99 of the principal Act is amended

(a) in the section heading, by deleting "documents" and
substituting "records";

(b) in subsection (1)(a), by deleting "books and documents"
and substituting "records";

(c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection
(1)

" (1a) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any person
carrying on a trade or business which consists of or
includes importing or exporting any goods of a
class or description subject to duty (whether or not
in fact chargeable with duty).";

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(d) in subsection (2), by deleting "book or document" and
substituting "record" in every place where it occurs in
the subsection;

(e) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the
following subsection

" (3) Any person who fails to comply with any
requirement made by a customs officer under
subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and
liable on summary conviction to a fine of $3000.".

Section 99A inserted in principal Act
11 The principal Act is amended by inserting the following section
after section 99

"Falsification, destruction etc. of records
99A Any person who wilfully and fraudulently falsifies,
conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of, or causes or permits
the falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of, records
relating to the importation or exportation of any goods shall be
guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of
$5,000 or to imprisonment for twelve months or both and on
conviction on indictment to a fine of $25,000 or to imprisonment
for 3 years or both.".

Schedule inserted in principal Act
12 The principal Act is amended by inserting at the end thereof the
following Schedule

"SCHEDULE

CUSTOMS TRADERS: RECORD-KEEPING REQUIREMENTS

(Section 35B(3), 35C(2)(c) and 98A)

Application and interpretation
1 (1) This Schedule applies to any person carrying on a
trade or business which consists of or includes any of the
following activities—

(a) importing or exporting any goods of a class or
description subject to duty (whether or not in
fact chargeable with duty);

(b) producing, manufacturing or applying a process
to them;

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(c) buying, selling or dealing in them;

(d) handling, transporting or storing them;

(e) facilitating any activity mentioned in sub-
subparagraphs (a) to (d) .

(2) In this Schedule—

(a) "customs goods" means any goods mentioned in
subparagraph (1)(a);

(b) any reference to a customs trader is a reference
to a person to whom this Schedule applies by
virtue of subparagraph (1);

(c) any reference to the business of a customs
trader is a reference to the trade or business
carried on by him as mentioned in
subparagraph (1).

Customs trader's records
2 (1) A customs trader who receives, prepares or issues a
record consisting of an item specified in subparagraph (3)
relating to a business within the meaning of paragraph 1(2)(c)
shall

(a) in the case of a received record, keep and
preserve it;

(b) in the case of an issued record, keep and
preserve a copy of it; and

(c) in the case of a record that is prepared or
maintained and which has not been received or
which is not issued, preserve it.

(2) A record required to be kept under subparagraph
(1) shall be kept in Bermuda; and a record required to be
preserved under subparagraph (1) shall be preserved for a period
of six years or such lesser period as the Collector of Customs
may permit beginning on the day the obligation to preserve
arises.

(3) The following, being items that are received,
prepared, maintained or issued, are specified

(a) an order

(b) an invoice

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(c) a delivery note

(d) a credit note

(e) a debit note

(f) a record relating to an importation or an
exportation

(g) a statement of account

(h) a record of payment or of receipt

(i) a journal or ledger

(j) a profit and loss account, trading account,
management account, management report or
balance sheet

(k) an internal or an external auditor's report

(l) a record relating to any drawback, remission,
repayment or reimbursement of, or relief from,
import or export duty

(m) a record required, other than by virtue of this
Schedule, by or under this Act or the Customs
Tariff Act 1970

(n) a stock record

(o) any other record maintained for a trading or
business purpose.

Other records
3 The Collector of Customs may require any customs
trader—

(a) to keep in Bermuda such other records as he
may specify; and

(b) to preserve those records for a period of six
years or such lesser period as the Collector of
Customs may permit, beginning on the day that
the obligation to preserve arises.

Information may be preserved by approved means
4 (1) A duty imposed under paragraph 2(1) or 3(b) to
preserve records may be discharged by the preservation of the
information contained in them by such means as the Collector of
Customs may approve.

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(2) On giving approval under subparagraph (1), the
Collector of Customs may impose such reasonable requirements
as appear to him necessary for securing that the information will
be as readily available to him as if the records themselves had
been preserved.

Records relating to customs declarations
5 Where any record (including a copy of a record) is kept
or preserved by a customs trader under a duty imposed by or
under this Schedule, and that record relates to a customs
declaration made by him or on his behalf, it shall be so kept or
preserved as to be readily apparent that it does relate to that
particular declaration.

Time of recording
6 Where a customs trader is required by or under this
Schedule to keep a record, he shall do so at the time when any
information that is by virtue of this Schedule to be recorded is
first known to him or as soon as possible thereafter.

Records and rules of evidence
7 (1) Where any information is preserved by approved
means as mentioned in paragraph 4(1), a copy of any document
in which it is contained shall, subject to subparagraph (2) be
admissible in evidence in any proceedings, whether civil or
criminal, to the same extent as the records themselves.

(2) A statement contained in a document produced by
a computer shall not by virtue of subparagraph (1) be
admissible in evidence in criminal proceedings, except in
accordance with section 43B of the Evidence Act 1905.

Furnishing of information and production of documents
8 (1) A customs trader shall furnish the Collector of
Customs, within such time and in such form as he may
reasonably require, with such information relating to his
business as he may reasonably specify.

(2) A customs trader shall, if required to do so by a
customs officer duly authorised in writing by the Collector of
Customs, produce or cause to be produced for inspection by the
officer—

(a) at that person's principal place of business or at
such other place as the officer may reasonably
require; and

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(b) at such time as the officer may reasonably
require;

any documents which relate to his business.

(3) Where it appears to a customs officer duly
authorised in writing by the Collector of Customs that any
documents which relate to a business of a customs trader are in
the possession of another person, the officer may require that
other person, at such time and place as the officer may
reasonably require, to produce those documents or cause them
to be produced.

(4) For the purposes of this paragraph, the documents
which relate to a business of a customs trader shall be taken to
include any documents required to be kept by virtue of
paragraph 2(1) .

(5) The officer may take copies of, or make extracts
from, any document produced under this paragraph.

(6) If it appears to the officer to be necessary to do so,
he may, at a reasonable time and for a reasonable period,
remove any document produced under this paragraph.

(7) Where a document is removed under subparagraph
(6)—

(a) if the person from whom the document is
removed so requests, he shall be given a record
of what was removed;

(b) if the document is reasonably required for the
proper conduct of any business, the person by
whom the document was produced or caused to
be produced shall be provided as soon as
practicable with a copy of the document free of
charge;

(c) if the document is lost or damaged, the Collector
of Customs shall be liable to compensate the
owner of it for any expenses reasonably incurred
by him in replacing or repairing it.

(8) If a person claims a lien on any document
produced by him under subparagraph (3)—

(a) the production of the document shall be without
prejudice to the lien; and

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(b) the removal of the document under
subparagraph (6) shall not be regarded as
breaking the lien.

Power of entry
9 Where a customs officer has reasonable cause to believe
that—

(a) any premises are used in connection with a
business of a customs trader; and

(b) any customs goods are on those premises;

he may at any reasonable time enter and inspect those premises
and inspect any goods found on them.

Order for production of documents
10 (1) Where, on an application by a customs officer, a
magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for
believing—

(a) that an offence in connection with import or
export duty of customs is being, has been or is
about to be committed; and

(b) that any information or documents which may
be required as evidence for the purpose of any
proceedings in respect of such an offence is in
the possession of any person;

he may make an order under this paragraph.

(2) An order under this paragraph is an order that the
person who appears to the magistrate to be in possession of the
information or documents to which the application relates
shall—

(a) furnish a customs officer with the information or
produce the document;

(b) permit a customs officer to take copies of or
make extracts of any document produced; and

(c) permit a customs officer to remove any
document which he reasonably considers
necessary;

not later than the end of the period of seven days beginning with
the date of the order or the end of such longer period as the
order may specify.

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Procedure when documents are removed
11 (1) A customs officer who removes any document in
the exercise of a power conferred under paragraph 10 shall, if so
requested by a person showing himself—

(a) to be the occupier of premises from which it was
removed; or

(b) to have had custody or control of it immediately
before the removal;

provide that person with a record of what he removed.

(2) The officer shall provide the record within a
reasonable time from the making of the request for it.

(3) Subject to subparagraph (7), if a request for
permission to be granted access to any document which—

(a) has been removed by a customs officer; and

(b) is retained by the Collector of Customs for the
purposes of investigating an offence;

is made to the officer in charge of the investigation by a person
who had custody or control of the document immediately before
it was so removed or by someone acting on behalf of such a
person, the officer shall allow the person who made the request
access to it under the supervision of a customs officer.

(4) Subject to subparagraph (7), if a request for a
photograph or copy of any such document is made to the officer
in charge of the investigation by a person who had custody or
control of the document immediately before it was so removed, or
by someone acting on behalf of such a person, the officer shall—

(a) allow the person who made the request access to
it under the supervision of a customs officer for
the purpose of photographing it or copying it; or

(b) photograph or copy it, or cause it to be
photographed or copied.

(5) Where any document is photographed or copied
under subparagraph (4)(b), the photograph or copy shall be
supplied to the person who made the request.

(6) The photograph or copy shall be supplied within a
reasonable time from the making of the request.

(7) There is no duty under this paragraph to grant
access to, or to supply a photograph or copy of, any document if

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the officer in charge of the investigation for the purposes of
which it was removed has reasonable grounds for believing that
to do so would prejudice—

(a) that investigation;

(b) the investigation of an offence other than the
offence for the purposes of the investigation of
which the document was removed; or

(c) any criminal proceedings which may be brought
as a result of—

(i) the investigation of which he is in
charge; or

(ii) any such investigation as is mentioned
in sub-subparagraph (b).

(8) Any reference in this paragraph to the officer in
charge of the investigation is a reference to the person whose
name and address are endorsed on the order concerned as being
the officer in charge of it.

Failure of customs officer to comply with requirements
under paragraph 11
12 (1) Where, on an application made as mentioned in
subparagraph (2), the magistrate is satisfied that a customs
officer has failed to comply with a requirement imposed by
paragraph 11, the magistrate may order that customs officer to
comply with the requirement within such time and in such
manner as may be specified in the order.

(2) An application under subparagraph (1) shall be
made—

(a) in the case of a failure to comply with any of the
requirements imposed by subparagraphs (1) and
(2) of paragraph 11, by the occupier of the
premises from which the document in question
was removed or by the person who had custody
or control of it immediately before it was so
removed; and

(b) in any other case, by the person who had such
custody or control.

(3) Any application for an order under this paragraph
shall be made by way of complaint.

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Failure to comply with requirements an offence
13 Any person who fails to comply with a requirement
imposed under paragraph 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 shall be guilty of an
offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of $3,000.".

Section 122 of principal Act amended
13 Section 122 of the principal Act is amended by inserting the
following subsection after subsection (4)

"(5) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a decision of the Collector
of Customs to

(a) refuse an application for authorisation pursuant
to section 35C(1);

(b) impose a condition of authorisation pursuant to
section 35D(2);

(c) vary a condition of authorisation pursuant to
section 35D(3);

(d) revoke an authorisation pursuant to section
35E(1);

(e) refuse to permit a record to be preserved for a
lesser period of time pursuant to paragraphs
2(2) and 3(b) of the Schedule;

(f) specify other records to be kept pursuant to
paragraph 3(a) of the Schedule;

(g) impose requirements for the preservation of
information by approved means pursuant to
paragraph 4(2) of the Schedule.".

Miscellaneous amendments
14 The principal Act is further amended as set out in the table in
the Schedule.

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SCHEDULE
(section 14)

PROVISION AMENDMENT

Section 15 substitute "customs declarations" for "bills of entry" in
every place where it occurs in the section.

Section 16 substitute "customs declarations" for "bills of entry"
and "customs declaration" for "bill of entry" in every
place where they occur in the section.

Section 17 substitute "customs declarations" for "bills of entry" in
every place where it occurs in the section.

Section 20 substitute "customs declaration" for "bill of entry" and
"customs declarations" for "bills of entry" in every place
where they occur in the section.

Section 21 substitute "customs declaration" for "entry"

(i) in the section heading;

(ii) where it first occurs in the section;

(iii) in the fifth place where it occurs in the section.

Section 21 substitute "declaration" for "entry"

(i) in the second place where it occurs in the section;

(ii) in the fourth place where it occurs in the section.

Section 22 substitute "customs declaration" for "entry" where it
occurs in the section.

Section 40(1) substitute "customs declaration" for "entry" where it
occurs in the section.

Section 54(1) substitute "the customs declaration" for "such entry"
where it occurs in the section.