Four In Ten Businesses Come To Bermuda For Tax Regime, Says Survey

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

08 March 2002

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce in Bermuda, four in ten multinational businesses which have chosen to relocate their headquarters in the jurisdiction did so because of the favourable tax and fiscal regime available there.

25% of respondents revealed that the presence of related businesses and infrastructure had been the draw for the move, and a further 16.7% said that the jurisdiction's location between the US and Europe had been the main attraction.

Bermuda has recently come under fire from the US, following a New York Times article which suggested that the exodus of US insurance companies to the low tax jurisdiction was somehow unpatriotic. The survey found that of the companies with offices in Bermuda, 40% are insurance related businesses.

Of those questioned, over half (56.1%) said that they had not considered any other jurisdiction when planning the move offshore. 21.1% revealed that they had considered the Cayman Islands as an alternative location, and 7% had examined the possibility of moving to the Bahamas.

The Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce, Renee Webb, stated earlier this week that the poll, which formed part of the E-Business Survey and took in 513 newly Bermuda based companies, would not become an annual event. However, she added that it was likely that a bi-annual survey on the state of e-business in Bermuda would be carried out.

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