The Bermuda House of Assembly has passed a bill proposing limited exemptions to economic substance (ES) requirements.
The bill, titled ‘The Economic Substance Amendment Bill 2019’, will be debated in the Senate, then, if passed, will come into effect by the end of June 2019.
It proposes an exemption from the Economic Substance Act of 2018 for entities registered in the domicile and involved in what the act describes as “relevant activities” from ES requirements, contingent on proof that they are a “non-resident entity”.
A “non-resident entity” is defined by the government as a body with a residence outside of Bermuda for tax purposes, excluding the EU ‘blacklist’ of “non-cooperative jurisdictions”.
The bill would require non-resident entities to submit evidence of their tax residence outside of Bermuda to the Registrar of Companies.