Bermuda Expat Forum

XBDA
Joined 2017
Posts: 37

5 years ago

Bermuda's hidden taxes

5 years ago

Expats might think Bermuda has "no tax", but that is not true at all.

- Payroll tax deduction -- most companies are allowed to deduct between 5-9% of your salary as "payroll tax", depending on how much you earn. They can absorb some or all of that if you negotiate with them.

- 1% foreign currency tax: if you are paid in "Bermuda dollars" (basically, if you work anywhere except reinsurance), then converting your salary into a currency that is actually accepted outside Bermuda will cost you 1%, plus a 0.5% bank charge.

- $35/week paycheck deduction for "social security" (a benefit that expats aren't eligible to receive).
Supposedly, expats can write to the government when you are 65 and ask for your contributions back (which will be worth nothing after 20-30 years of inflation). But as Bermuda's social security is massively underfunded and the civil service simply ignores most correspondence, the chances you will ever get anything back are nil.

- import duties: after payroll tax, this hurts the most. It is complicated, but you can assume that anything you order from overseas will be subject to around 25% import duty (plus a "government handling" fee, which on small items can be more than the duty). You can assume that anything sold in stores was also subject to that duty and is being sold with that tax built into the price.

- Vehicle licensing fees - for a small car, about $1000/year.

- excise taxes on things like alcohol and cigarettes are about on par with high tax countries like Sweden - expect to pay $7 for a beer in a pub

Also, some things aren't taxes but have the same effect of taking cash from you for nothing:

- expat driving licenses aren't accepted, so you have to take a "driving test", and they will almost certainly not pass you unless you have taken a bunch of $50/hour "lessons"

-dirty foreigners are banned from buying all but the 150 most expensive homes on the island. So what you could be investing into a house you must instead pay in rent to local landlords

- public schools are not even close to Western World standards, so count on $20,000+/year for private school

- an 18% "gratuity" is automatically added to 99% of restaurant checks.

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