Revenue Amendment Act 2008
REVENUE AMENDMENT ACT 2008



BERMUDA

2008 : 14

REVENUE AMENDMENT ACT 2008

Date of Assent: 25 March 2008

Operative Date: 25 March 2008


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
1 This Act, which amends the Revenue Act 1898 (in this Act
referred to as “the principal Act”), may be cited as the Revenue
Amendment Act 2008.

Inserts new section 2A
2 The principal Act is amended by inserting next after section 2
the following—

“Powers of Collector of Customs and customs officers
2A Any powers under this Act or any other statutory provision
that are authorised, expressly or by implication, to be exercised
by the Collector of Customs, a customs officer or a proper officer
for the purposes of collecting, protecting or safeguarding the
revenue may also be exercised by those persons for the purposes
of enforcing any prohibition or restriction on the importation or
exportation of goods.”.

Amends section 5B(2)
3 Section 5B(2) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the
words “, crew or passengers” and substituting the words “or goods”.


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Amends section 16(1)
4 Section 16(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the
word “goods” next after the word “entering” and inserting next after the
word “entering” the words “, importing or exporting goods, currency or
negotiable instruments”.

Amends section 16(3)(c)
5 Section 16(3)(c) of the principal Act is amended by inserting next
after the word “goods” the words “, currency or negotiable instruments”.

Inserts new section 16(5)
6 The principal Act is amended by inserting next after section 16(4)
the following—

“ (5) If any person makes a false customs declaration, or fails
to make a customs declaration, in respect of any goods, currency
or negotiable instruments, the goods, currency or negotiable
instruments shall be liable to forfeiture.”.

Inserts new section 30A
7 The principal Act is amended by inserting next after section 30
the following—

“Determination of time for the importation and exportation
of goods
30A (1) Notwithstanding section 30, in this Act and in any
other statutory provision, unless the context otherwise
requires—

(a) the time of importation of any prohibited goods is
the time when the goods enter the territory of
Bermuda;

(b) the time of importation of any restricted goods is
the time when the goods are unloaded from the
aircraft or vessel in which they are imported into
the territory of Bermuda;

(c) the time of importation of any restricted goods not
carried into the territory of Bermuda in an aircraft
or vessel shall be the time when such goods enter
the territory of Bermuda; and

(d) the time of exportation of both prohibited and
restricted goods shall be the time when the goods
are loaded onto a vessel or aircraft, or the time
when the goods leave the territory of Bermuda,
whichever time is earlier.

(2) In this section—

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“conditional prohibition” means a prohibition under
any statutory provision that is conditional
upon the existence of an approval,
authorisation, authority, certificate, licence,
notice, permission or permit;

“prohibited goods” means goods that are imported
or exported contrary to any prohibition (other
than a conditional prohibition), under any
statutory provision;

“restricted goods” means goods that are imported or
exported contrary to any conditional
prohibition;

“territory of Bermuda” includes the territorial
waters of Bermuda and its airspace.”.

Amends section 35F
8 Section 35F of the principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by
deleting “ section 35D (2)” and substituting “of section 35D(1)”.

Repeals and replaces section 86
9 Section 86 of the principal Act is repealed and replaced by the
following—

“Penalties for false customs declarations
86 (1) If any person makes a customs declaration, before a
customs officer or otherwise, which is untrue in any particular,
the person making the declaration shall forfeit and pay a sum in
the level 4 amount.

(2) Any person who, with intent to deceive, makes a
customs declaration that is untrue in any material particular
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on
indictment to imprisonment for up to a maximum of 5 years or
to a maximum fine of $100,000 or to both such imprisonment
and fine.

(3) In addition to any penalty under subsection (1) or (2),
if any person fails to declare or misdeclares any article, that
article shall be liable to forfeiture.”.

Inserts new section 91A
10 The principal Act is amended by inserting next after section 91
the following—

“Offence by company
91A Where a body corporate has been proved to have
committed an offence under this Act and that offence is proved

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to have been committed with the consent or connivance of any
director or officer of that body corporate or any person who is
purporting to act in that capacity, that director, officer or person,
as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.”.

Repeals and replaces section 101
11 Section 101 of the principal Act is repealed and replaced by the
following—

“Disposal of goods seized and condemned
101 (1) All goods that are seized as forfeited under this Act
shall be deemed to be condemned, and may be dealt with in the
manner directed by law with respect to goods seized and
condemned for breach of this Act, unless the person from whom
the goods have been seized, or the owner of them, or a person
authorised by the owner either—

(a) gives notice in writing, within one month from the
day of the goods being seized, to the Collector of
Customs that they claim the goods, or intend to
claim the goods under section 105; or

(b) requires, in accordance with section 122, a review
of a decision to seize and forfeit the goods.

(2) If, following a claim or review referred to in subsection
(1)(a) or (b), the seizure and forfeiture of goods is affirmed, the
goods are deemed to be condemned and may be dealt with in the
manner directed by law with respect to goods seized and
condemned for breach of this Act.”.

Repeals and replaces section 102
12 Section 102 of the principal Act is repealed and replaced by the
following—

“Disposal of goods seized and condemned contrary to a
prohibition or restriction
102 (1) All goods that are—

(a) imported;

(b) exported or re-exported;

(c) entered for a customs procedure; or

(d) released for a customs procedure

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contrary to any prohibition or restriction under any statutory
provision shall be liable to forfeiture under this Act and may be
seized and condemned.

(2) All goods that have been seized and condemned under
this Act may be disposed of as the Collector of Customs sees fit.

(3) In this section—

(a) “customs procedure” includes any procedure
relating to the—

(i) importation of goods, including importation
for home use or for free circulation,

(ii) storage, holding or processing of goods
without payment of duty as part of any
suspensive procedure, or

(iii) exportation or re-exportation of goods;

(b) “entered” means placed under a customs
procedure whether by customs declaration,
conduct or otherwise;

(c) “released” means removed for a customs
procedure whether by acceptance of a customs
declaration, payment of duty or otherwise.

(4) In subsection (3)(a) the expressions “free circulation”,
and “suspensive procedure”, shall be construed in the same
manner as those expressions are to be construed in section 139
of the Copyright and Designs Act 2004.”.

Amends the Second Schedule
13 Paragraph 2 of Part 9 of the Second Schedule is amended by
deleting the words “entry of goods for Customs purposes” and
substituting the word “importation”.

Consequential amendment to the Copyright and Designs Act 2004
14 The Copyright and Designs Act 2004 is amended by inserting
next after section 140 the following—

“Powers of customs officers and the Collector of Customs
140A (1) For the purposes of enforcement of section 139 and
any regulations made under section 140, the Collector of
Customs or any customs officer shall have the same powers as
they have under the Revenue Act 1898.

(2) The same powers and immunities that are afforded to
members of the Customs Department, by way of section 5 of the
Customs Department Act 1952, shall also be afforded to the
Collector of Customs or to a customs officer under this Act.

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(3) For greater certainty, goods referred to in sections
139 and 140, including counterfeit and pirated goods, are
included in the definition of “goods” in section 2 of the Revenue
Act 1898.”.