The Bermuda Recorder

              page six the bermuda recorder saturday april 7 1973 vehicle license employment tax soon to i for sale i a well-established fashionable drygoods business in the i city of hamilton as a going concern h attractive lease and purchasing terms fl for further information please contact i benjamin rego i rego limited i spurling hill 2-3921 ■ established 1949 ■ member bermuda chamber of commerce fees go up be instituted meet with local manufacturers as a matter of urgency over the next few months to see whether reasonable changes which may be of assistance can be made con tinned from page 1 such high increases at one time member for transpoita tion hon ralph marshall agreed with many of the points brought up by members and noted we have the basis of a first-class transportation system beginning july 1st this year and it's my estima tion that public transportatio l has to be subsidized by private transport he further reveal ed that there may come a time when government may have to seriously limit the number of ears on our roads there are two vehicles which are having their fees reduced by this bill they are the public carriages whose license is reduced from 1.20 to 1 00 and water trucks which are having their license fees re faced by 50 per cent continued from page 1 the tax this position is in cepted in principle but rather than exempt them i propose that contractors in this posi tion whether in the building or other industry may be re funded tax after providing sat isfactory evidence to the com missioner sions and even within the same professions and is disen.i.i natory as a direct charge oi their income as opposed to others while the government does not accept the charge ot discrimination since it is the intention of the tax to las labour services including highly paid services it is ac cepted that the across tne board 75 < formula which was adopted for purposes of ad ministrative simplicity was in fact too broad an approach so in the interests of getting reasonable and sensible legis lation on the books as soon as possible government have agreed that in their case as with others the tax should ap ply to their payrolls but with the reservation that the value of the services rendered by professionals partners man agers etc should be subject to confirmation and if neces sary assessment — up to a maximum assessed annual salary of 48,000 — by the tax commissioner trade associations such as the chamber of commerce hotel association and the credit association have asked for exemption from the tax or the grounds that they are non profit making this does lot in my view constitute grounds for exemption since they all employ labour themselves di rectly and that labour is n hardest hit are the large cars with a fee of 150 many of the licensing fees are in creased by as much as 200 per cent this brought much com ment from other members of the house representations have been made by the employers coun cil and the training and ap prenticeship council that wages of full time students in vacation employment should not be liable to tax nor should the wages of employees doing in-service training govern ment supports the objejetives of these proposals and the bill exempts students employed during vacation and employ ees up to the age of 18 in in organised training programme approved by the training and apprenticeship council an 1 charges the wages of other employees over the age of 18 in approved training schemes at h4 only mr reginald burrow s p.l.p member stated these particular fees are hitting the motorist very hard they've already had an increase in duty an increase in gasolin and now an increase in licens ing all i can see coming out of this is a rising spiral h costs ... i realise that we have a very serious traffic problem but i think that the method the member is using is the wrong one one of the methods the member should use if he seriously intends to discourage people from usi.-l private vehicles is to give them better public transporta tion . . . this should be num ber 1 directly employed by the buss nesses which they represent and for which they perform services moreover it is not usual in payroll taxes in other countries to exempt trade as government student loans leader pays to sociations tribute under the act all employers and self-employed persons other than those specifically exempted such as commercial fishermen and individual taxi drivers will be required to register with the tax com missioner by 31st may 1973 this will include those em ployers or self-employed per sons who expect to obtain re lief on the grounds that their taxable payrolls and benefits will be less than 18,000 an nually employers whom the commissioner accepts as be ing in this category will be re lieved from making monthly returns and payments but will be required to notify the com missioner if and when they be come liable to tax and will be required in any event to ven der annual returns to verify their position it is proposed to make a number of grants in the form of interest free loans — to a maximum of bd$1,200 per annum for study abroad at the post secondary level provided that funds are available these grants ran be continued for a maximum of five years repayment to be made in annual instalments may be spread over a five year period police speaking in the house of assembly yesterday the gov ernment leader sir edward richards stated loans will be granted to suitable candidates in the fol lowing categories employers payments wii.ii respect to employees undci the contributory pension act the hospital insurance plan and the workmen's compen sation act and any other ap proved health pension or life assurance schemes will not be subject to tax a those accepted for full-time study pursuing i a national or higher national diploma or ii equivalent courses in business commerce or in other areas of technoligy mr burrows further state 1 that the increase in licensing for livery cycles would hi passed on to our tourists who are being hit with the employ ment tax by increased hotel rates u.b.p member mr cyril ranee agreed with mr burrows on the subject of in creased licensing costs tor livery cycles mr ranee also suggested that the member put a stop to the importation of heavy motor cycles - and that cars be examined evry two years i wish to take this opp.<r tunity to pay public tribute on behalf of the government and i am sure of all members of this honourable house to the service to the community which has been rendered in recent weeks by the officers and men and women of the bermuda police the reserve constabulary and the ber muda regiment hotels have made available financial statements which confirm that some are actual ly losing money now while most others are operating at low profit levels they have however accepted their re sponsibility to provide govern ment with the amount antic pated from this source ond appears that an appropriate after discussing the matter it formul would be 2 tax from payrolls tips and gratuities being excluded and a 2'/i ax on their rack rates with effect from lst july to be added to the guests bills — a proce dure now so commonplace u the united states and carnb bean countries as to be al most normal b those studying for a first degree at a recognized univer sity or college local manufacturing com panies have asked for some form of relief or encourage ment in recognition of the high labour content of their bm ness and of their special local position claimed to be analo gous to farmers and fishermen who are to be exempted i am sympathetic to their position and some relief has already been given to manufacturer through the harmonisation of the customs tariff but ir would be better in my view to make aviy further protective moves necessary through changes in rates of duty and i have asked the parliament ary secretary for finance to c those holding a first degree but proceeding to furthei study following on the tragic events of the 10th of marc the members of these units responded immediately and without question to the call of duty and as always have rendered service which has been invaluable in these dark and difficult days it is an enormous encouragement to us all to know that there are so many men and women who are ever ready to serve their country in time of need i am proud of them all each ana everyone of them and we all owe them a great debt of g-a titude nor must i fail to in clude the many employers of members of the regiment and the reserve constabulary who have so readily and willingly released employees for such a long period i am most grate ful to them all copies of the regulations and application forms may be btained from the office of the permanent secretary depart nent of education the member concluded so i think the bill fairly meets most of the valid representa tions made at least in so far as it is reasonable to do so at this stage the important thing is to get a reasonable bill on the statute books is soon as possible so that needed revenue will not be lost and working experience with the act itself can be obtained in the light of this working tx perience further improve ments will undoubtedly arise completed applications must reach the department of edu ation not later than june 1 1973 mr eugene cox wanted to know what government vvas going to do about protecting pubbc safety and industrial safety he was answered by the member for immigration hon c v woolridge who noted that such legislation is presently in the hands of the labour relations council and will soon be brought to the house permanent secretary for education and libraries local restaurants have made a compelling case that high labour costs escalati.ii food costs and the fact that they are in competition with hotel restaurants and cruise ships have placed their busi ness in real jeopardy — and they have in some cases pro duced supporting evidence 10 confirm their dffiiculty in the circumstances government has agreed that they should pay tax on their payroll ex cluding gratuities at the same lower rate of 2 as hotels u.b.p member mr de couto suggested that govern ment have a yearly review 3f licensing fees so that the pub he would not be subjected to f^m z ■♦- . zzzmmz-zz www philco mercer's bermudiana arcade it pays to advertise in the recorder ♦ 143 cu.ft.noerast refrigerator-freezer i am also grateful to her majesty's government in the united kingdom and to the officers and men of scotland yard for the unprecedented measure of assistance which is being given in the present investigations needlework packs the construction association has represented that fixed cost contracts entered into before the budget 2nd march with out any labour escalation clause should be exempt from chairseats cushions tablecloths shoulder bags etc quick and junior tapestry kits and as always the best in english wool phone 1-1380 r_^v'i ill i lilttlilcfl stumped about where z^mm^^^^z^mm-z^m^z^m^^wmm^^wm to buy your cricket gear for sale trikini 24 ft pover designed nugget class trimaran with sails outboard and dinghy telephone 1-5508 come to where the acction is and the best prices more storage room for the space it takes the sportsman's shop big 14.3 cu.ft capacity , only 30 wide and 60tf high reid street hamilton gray-nicolls ► t no defrosting deep-shelf storage door gray nicolls ba superlite nylon ite supertuf richard e north batting gloves , wicketkeeping gloves batting leg guards batting protectors practice balls philco power saver system cuts operating costs the miss bermuda beauty pageant committee abdominal guards bat oil invites model rd14a6 ,*«—«-- _-■*,.. m 484.20 cash rubber grips all bermudian young ladies 18 yrs - 28 yrs ken barrington shirts trousers alder wool socks white floppy hats or terms available to compete for the titles f-srl"a him n ■ ksibhib of hi h»m m.i when hn xi«t nil * yr-p»fj 1 i » teiitetalo ; _• hn ihil in -,., .,-.-. itatf ■*■**■*■ velum and q_.ie feel nf shell a'.a published n k'ed 1 -— j a_.-t._l by um association ol hum appliance ma.i jlaci _ ten twm fizumtda 1973 also for boys and inexpensive bats — balls — gloves — pads wum fisamuda pacta 1973 ff & co s-sr our 15th year both pageants to be held in may this is the chanct of a lifetime for exciting travel prestige meeting famous personalities and wholesome fun all competitors are given free instructions in poise charm speech improvement and make-up techniques call 1-6061 for further information major appliances centre the sportsman's shop reid street hamilton tel 2-6021 the quality family store of bermuda