Passenger Tax Act 1972

[18 May 1972]

[preamble and words of enactment omitted]

Passenger tax

1 (1) Subject to section 2, there is hereby charged in respect of every passenger departing from Bermuda a tax at the appropriate rate specified in the Schedule.

(2) Subject to section 2, there is hereby charged in respect of every passenger arriving in Bermuda on a pleasure craft by sea from an overseas country a tax at the appropriate rate specified in the Schedule.

(3) Moneys received under this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(4) Tax due under subsection (1) shall be collected on or before the date of departure by the owner, operator or agent of the vessel or aircraft in question, and paid to the Tax Commissioner.

(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.

(5) Tax due under subsection (2) shall be collected on or before the date of departure by the per son responsible, and paid to the Tax Commissioner forthwith.

(6) In this Act, for the purposes of tax payable under subsec tion (2)—

"passenger" means any member of the complement of the plea sure craft, whether crew or not;

"passenger ship" has the meaning assigned by section 1 of the Passenger Ships Act 1972 [title 22 item 2];

"person responsible" means the person on board the pleasure craft under whose command or subject to whose personal di rection the craft arrived;

"pleasure craft" means a vessel which at the time of its arrival is being used for private recreational purposes.

[Section 1 amended by 1996:13 effective by notice in the Official Gazette, by 1996 : 20 effective 1 October 1996; and by 1998 : 6 effective 1 April 1998]

Exemptions

2 (1) No tax shall be payable in respect of the following:—

(a) a child 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 air craft or another aircraft within twenty-four hours of ar rival;

(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) [deleted by 1996 : 20]

(h) career consular officers and consular employees within the meaning of the Consular Relations Act 1971 [title 6 item 1] and members of their families forming part of

their households who are —

(i) not Commonwealth citizens;

(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.

(2) Tax is not payable—

(a) under section 1(1) in respect of a person departing from Bermuda on any vessel which when it last arrived in Bermuda fell to be treated as a pleasure craft for the purposes of section 1(2);

(b) under section 1(2) in respect of a person who is a bona fide participant in an event approved by the Minister of Finance for the purposes of this paragraph.

[Section 2 amended by 1996 : 20 effective 1 October 1996]

Tax Commissioner may authorize agents of ship or aircraft to ren der returns with equivalent payment

3 (1) Where, as respects tax payable under section 1(1), the Tax Commissioner is satisfied that the revenue will be adequately safe guarded he may by notice in writing authorise any person, being the owner, operator or agent of any ship or aircraft, to render to him in such form and containing such particulars as he may require, a return of the number of passengers who have departed from Bermuda by any ship or aircraft owned or operated by that person or for which he acts as agent; and where a return is made in pursuance of this section such person shall at the same time pay to the Tax Commissioner a sum equivalent to the amount of the tax which would otherwise have fallen to be paid in respect of the passengers who have so departed.

(1A) A return under subsection (1) shall—

(a) where falling to be made by the owner, operator or agent of a ship, be made within two days after the date of departure of the ship;

(b) where falling to be made by the owner, operator or agent of an aircraft,—

(i) be made not later than the fifteenth day of each month; and

(ii) relate to those passengers who departed from Bermuda in the next preceding month.

(2) A person rendering a return under subsection (1) shall pro duce to the Tax Commissioner such evidence as the Tax Commissioner may require to satisfy himself that no tax fell to be paid respect of any person departing from Bermuda in whose case no payment is made under subsection (1); and if the Tax Commissioner is not satisfied as aforesaid, the person making the return shall be liable to pay a sum equivalent to the amount of the tax which would have been payable in respect of the person so departing.

[Section 3 amended by 1996:13 effective by notice in the Official Gazette, and by 1996 : 20 effective 1 October 1996]

Penalties

4 (1) Any person who fails to make any payment as required by the foregoing provisions of this Act commits an offence:

Punishment on summary conviction: a fine of $25 in respect of each per son in respect of whom the payment should have been made,

(2) Any person who, in connection with any return rendered or evidence produced under section 3, makes or produces or causes or al lows to be made or produced any statement or information which is false in a material particular and which he knows to be false, or does not be lieve to be true, without prejudice to anything in the Criminal Code [title 8 item 31], commits an offence:

Punishment on summary conviction: imprisonment for 6 months or a fine of $500 or both such imprisonment and fine.

Refund of tax in certain cases

4A (1) A person is entitled to a refund of tax if he makes a claim to the refund in writing to the Accountant-General and fulfils the requirements specified in subsection (2).

(2) The abovementioned requirements are that he must satisfy the Accountant-General as follows—

(a) that he is an exempted person; and

(b) that tax was paid in respect of him under subsection (4) or (5) of section 1, or under section 3, as the case may be, by the person required by those provisions to pay the tax or its equivalent; and

(c) that his claim is made on or before the expiry of 90 days next following the date of his departure, or, as the case may be, arrival, in question.

(3) The expression "exempted person" in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) means a person exempted from tax by section 2.

[Section 4A inserted by 1995:11 effective 1 April 1995; amended by 1996:13 effective by notice in Official Gazette, and substituted by 1996 : 20 effective 1 October 1996]

Inspection of books

5 All books and accounts kept by any person required by this Act to collect the tax and pay the same to the Tax Commissioner shall be open to the inspection of a person authorised in writing by the Minister of Finance, and all such books and accounts shall be admissible in evi dence in any proceedings under this Act.

[Section 5 amended by 1996:13 effective by notice in the Official Gazette]

Repeals

6 [omitted]

Commencement

7 [omitted]

[this Act was brought into operation on 1 July 1972 by SR&O 23/1972]

SCHEDULE (Section 1)

A Travel by Air (tax under s.1(1))

Every passenger of two years of age or over $20.00

B Travel by Sea

Every passenger—

(a) travelling by pleasure craft (tax under s.1(2)) $15.00

(b) travelling otherwise (tax under s.1(1))

(i) from 1 April to 31 October,

both those dates inclusive $60.00

(ii) from 1 November to 31 March,

both those dates inclusive Nil

[Schedule amended by 1990:17 effective 1 April 1990; by 1993:9 effective 1 April 1993; and by 1995:11 effective 1 April 1995]

Bermuda Consolidated Legislation

Passenger Tax Act 1972