Inter-Island Communications News Brief – June 23, 2021

Bermuda has a right to determine for itself what it thinks is an appropriate tax system for its jurisdiction. This from Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson in an interview with the Financial Times, discussing the G7 push for a minimum corporate income tax to be implemented worldwide, with the aim to prevent companies and individuals from offshoring income to avoid being taxed in their home countries. The article reads in part that quote “Bermuda currently raises revenue through taxes on payrolls and property, customs duties and fees charged to international businesses.”

Finance Minister Dickinson said that quote “Bermuda’s current tax system . . . is consumption based — it is a function of seeking to be simple to administer, simple to file. That is the system we have had in place . . . It has not been changed to encourage people to move here. It has been what it has been. The system works for us.”

The pressure on tax havens grew this month when the G7 countries moved to close loopholes that multinationals use to reduce their tax bills, agreeing to a minimum global 15 per cent levy on corporate income. Whether anything will actually change, however, depends on wider global negotiations — meaning the implications for Bermuda remain hypothetical.

More than a dozen road traffic collisions took place over the holiday weekend with some being life-threatening for the victims, indicating clearly that Bermuda has some work to do to make our roads safer for everyone.

This from Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell, Officer in Charge, Tactical Support Division who said quote, “Despite an ongoing focus on traffic offences by the Bermuda Police Service which saw more than 70 tickets issued over the National Heroes’ Day holiday weekend, a total of 16 collisions occurred during the same timeframe, ranging in severity from relatively minor to potentially life threatening. All 16 are under active investigation. It would appear that inattention and driving without due care were factors in most of these incidents. To emphasise the continued efforts of the BPS, from Friday, 18th June through Monday, 21st June at least 77 tickets were issued for traffic offences, along with 24 motorist advice notices [official warnings]. Of note, the Roads Policing Unit [RPU] handed out 57 speeding tickets during the period – as well as tickets for no driver’s licence, driving while disqualified and driving without due care. Road sobriety checkpoints were also in effect. However, only one person was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving as a result. In addition, police officers responding to regular calls for service during this past holiday weekend issued another 20 traffic tickets for offences including speeding; disobeying a traffic sign; no driver’s licence; driving while disqualified; illegally towing a vehicle; permitting an unlicensed vehicle to be driven and driving without due care.”

There are a couple of scam emails circulating that you need to be aware of to protect yourself, your identity and your data.

The first has to do with fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate emails with a Health Ministry spokesperson sharing that quote “If you receive or have received correspondence from islandtran@ibl.bm or conbea@northrock.bm asking you to review new instructions regarding COVID-19 Vaccine Certificates, please ignore and delete it. All official emails related to COVID-19 vaccine certificates are sent from the Government of Bermuda COVID-19 Response Team at BermudaCovidVaccine@resqwest.com. You can also contact the Vaccine hotline on 444-2498 and select Option #2, or email vaccinecertificates@gov.bm.” The second scam has to do with Rubis Energy with a fake email and WhatsApp message floating around suggesting recipients have won a promo sweepstakes draw.

A Rubis spokesperson said that quote “This communication is fake. We urge the public to avoid forwarding either of these messages if they receive them, and delete them. We suspect that these phishing messages are being deployed to obtain personal information and other sensitive data and should be ignored.”

The ongoing cycle of road work is moving to the east end with a Government spokesperson saying quote “The trench work will be in the eastbound lane on Mullet Bay until it reaches Tiger Bay at Penno’s Wharf. All residents are advised not to park on either side of Mullet Bay Road during this time frame. The lane closure will commence from Monday June 28th 2021 to Friday October 29th, 2021. Working hours will be from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, weekly from Monday through Saturday and trench work should reach 200 feet open section lengths at a time. Motorists, especially construction vehicles and buses are asked to use caution when passing the open trench since it may at times be near the center yellow line and can be quite deep. Traffic controls will be under the direction of Island Construction Services Ltd. representatives and will be managed through traffic control signs & signals. The Ministry of Public Works wishes to encourage the full cooperation of the public and apologizes for any inconvenience that may result.”