Payroll Tax Amendments for 2026
The budget statement which was read on Friday, February 20th, 2026, by the Premier and Finance Minister, the Hon. David Burt, JP, MP included the following amendments to the Payroll Tax Act 1995
New Hire Relief 2026
The New Hire Relief of 2026 repeals and replaces the relief granted in 2024. The 2026 New Hire Relief is offered to:
- All Exempted Companies and,
- All other employers with remuneration greater than $500,000
Qualifying Employers must increase the number of full-time equivalents from those reported in the baseline period of January thru March 2025. Full-time refers to a person who works 15 hrs. or more per week. Qualifying Employers receive Employer portion tax exemption on the remuneration paid to Qualifying Employees.
Qualifying Employees are full-time employees hired:
- any time between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 and who are still employed after April 1, 2026, and
- anytime during the period April 1, 2026 thru March 31, 2028.
At the time the New Hire becomes employed he or she must not have been employed by a Parent or Affiliate Company.
Taxpayers with qualifying employees must submit a completed application form by the quarter end in which the employee qualifies. Retroactive approval will not be considered. Application forms can be found under Resources on this page.
Bermudian aged 65 years or over
Any Employer who retains or hires a Bermudian, 65 years of age and over in a quarter qualifies for relief in the quarter in which the application is received. Bonus payments are not included in the relief and are therefore taxable. The quarterly threshold paid to an employee is up to $24k per tax period. This means that any remuneration paid to an employee is not taxable if it is under $24K per tax period and any dollar amount greater than $24K is taxable. Relief is granted in the quarter in which the application is received. See forms under Resources on this page.
Caregiver Exemption
Any caregiver who is caring for or helping to care for a person in their own home in connection with their physical or mantal illness or incapacity will pay 0% tax on the employer portion.
Dividends
From April 1, 2018, dividends paid to persons providing services to local companies (i.e. companies not trading on any stock exchange) were taxed as part of gross remuneration. As of April 1, 2026 however, there has been an increase of the deductible to $20,000 per person, per year, on dividends received. This means that each dividend dollar over $20,000 per person, per annum, is taxed as part of gross remuneration up to the tax ceiling of $ 1,000,000. Taxpayers must report in section C of the tax return each time dividends are paid or declared.
Employee Portion Tax Calculators
The Employee Portion tax calculators for the pay periods between April – June will be available under ‘Resources’ on this page by the first week of April 2026. These tools are provided to assist taxpayers with the calculation of employee payroll tax deductions.
Visit https://www.youtube.com/@citvbermuda/playlists to view the Office of the Tax Commissioner training tutorials as a guide to using the calculators. Please use the current rates and calculators as the YouTube video series is for instructional use.
Tax Cap
The tax cap remains at $1,000,000 per person. This means that additional remuneration earned beyond $1,000,000 is not subject to tax. See below the Employee portion schedule for the applicable tax rates.
Tax Calculation - Employer Portion
The employer is required to pay tax on gross taxable remuneration as defined in the Payroll Tax Act 1995 based on the following rates:
|
CLASS OF TAXPAYER |
RATE April 1, 2026 |
|
The Government, Parish Councils, Government Boards, the Bermuda College, approved schools, registered charities, religious and cultural organizations and the Bermuda Festival Ltd., New Start-up businesses (4 quarters) and an employer in an Economic Empowerment Zone (9 quarters). |
0% |
|
New Hire remuneration and remuneration, (excluding dividend and bonus payments) paid to employees in Special Situations e.g. persons on jury duty or on duty with the Bermuda Regiment or Bermuda Volunteer Reserve, persons employed as farmers, fishermen or horticulturists, hotel and restaurant employees from November – March, retail employees from January – March, employees with permanent disabilities, employees on approved Training Schemes, persons or maternity or paternity leave, and self-employed person operating as an approved caregiver |
0% |
|
Self Employed Farmers and Fishermen |
0% |
|
Taxpayers with an annual payroll less than $200,000 (or less than $50,000 p/qtr.), educational, sporting, or scientific institutions, associations or societies and horticulturists. |
1.00% |
|
Taxpayers with annual remuneration of not less than $200,000 and not more than $350,000 (or < $87,500 p/qtr.); the Bermuda Hospitals Board and the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George’s |
2.50% |
|
The Bermuda Hospitals Board, Corporation of Hamilton, Corporation of St. George’s and a licensed residential care home with an annual payroll of more than $350,000 |
3.00% |
|
Taxpayers operating a restaurant or hotel with an annual payroll of $350,000 or greater (>$87,500 p/qtr.). |
4.00% |
|
Taxpayers with annual remuneration of more than $350,000 and not more than $500,000 (>$87,500 up to $125,000 p/qtr.). |
5.00% |
|
Retail Establishments with annual remuneration over $500,000 p/a (or >$125,000 p/qtr.) and whose primary business is the sale of fashion, shoes, jewelry and perfume. |
5.00% |
|
Taxpayers with an annual payroll greater than $500,000 and up to $1,000,000 (>$125,000 up to $250,000 p/qtr.). |
7.00% |
|
Taxpayers with an annual payroll greater than $1,000,000 p/a (>$250,000 p/qtr.) |
9.50% |
|
All Exempt Undertakings |
9.75% |
Tax Calculation - Employee Portion
The EMPLOYEE portion of payroll tax must be calculated separately from the employer portion.
Employers have the option to deduct the employee portion of payroll tax from employees however the responsibility to pay the full amount of tax (i.e. employer plus employee portions) rests with the employer.
The EMPLOYEE portion is calculated across 5 tax bands using the marginal or progressive tax rate structure as follows:
|
ANNUAL REMUNERATION BANDS |
MAXIMUM PORTION OF REMUNERATION TAXABLE EACH PER BAND |
EMPLOYEE PORTION TAX RATES APRIL 1, 2026 - MARCH 31, 2027 |
|
0 - $48,000 |
$48,000 |
0.25% |
|
$48,0001 - $96,000 |
$48,000 |
7.75% |
|
$96,001 - $200,000 |
$104,000 |
10.75% |
|
$200,001 - $500,000 |
$300,000 |
11.50% |
|
$500,001 - $1,000,000 |
$500,000 |
12.50% |
|
MAXIMUM TAXABLE REMUNERATION |
$1,000,000 |
|
The marginal tax rate is the rate of tax that employees incur on each additional dollar of earnings. As earnings rise, each dollar of earnings above the previous level is taxed at a higher rate. For example, based on the rates for 2026-2027, a person who earns an annual rate of pay of $49,000 a year would be taxed at 0.25% on the first $48,000 and 7.75% on the balance of $1,000 which falls in Band 2. A person who earns $1m would be taxed across each of the 5 bands since a portion of his/her remuneration fits into each category. The additional $1 above $1m would not be taxed as the employee would have reached its maximum taxable remuneration.
It is important to note that the Progressive Tax rates are applied to each persons’ annual rate of pay. For employees that earn fluctuating amounts per pay period, the annual rate of pay must be recalculated each pay period so that the payroll tax can be adjusted accordingly. The pay period calculators found under Resources on this page can assist you when calculating the EMPLOYEE portion.
Reminders
E-tax
All taxpayers with payrolls of $200,000 or more per annum are reminded of the requirement to e-file with effect from the quarter April – June 2021. Penalties will be levied where tax is not submitted in the required format. To register please visit www.etax.gov.bm. The Office of the Tax Commissioner encourages all taxpayers to e-file for fast and easy reporting. Enquire at etax@gov.bm.
Tax Filing Dates:
Payroll Tax is due quarterly with a 15-day grace period at the end of the quarter. Employers and Self-employed persons who file late will be subject to late penalties and assessments. Please take note of the quarters and filing dates below:
- Remuneration earned between January – March must be declared and filed anytime between April 1st to the deadline of April 15th.
- Remuneration earned between April – June must be filed between July 1st to the deadline of July 15th.
- Remuneration earned between July – September must be filed between October 1st to the deadline of October 15th, and
- Remuneration earned between October – December must be filed between January 1st to the deadline of January 15th.
Books and Records:
Employers must keep adequate books and records in accordance with the Tax (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1991 in order to verify the declarations made on each tax return. Any person who submits false returns, fails to keep adequate records or to present them to the Office of the Tax Commissioner when requested, or evades tax payment in any way commits an offense and is subject to fines up to $500,000. The Tax Commissioner reserves the right to assess a value for undeclared remuneration under section 16 of the Taxes Management Act for any person to which in his opinion such person is chargeable.