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COMPUTER SYSTEMS & SERVICES
Government of Bermuda
Warner Building, 64 King Street Telephone: (441) 297-7733
Hamilton HM 12, Bermuda Fax: (441) 295-2948
8th December 2000
Electronic Filing of Tax Returns
Dear Sir or Madam:
The Ministry of Finance’s Office of the Tax Commissioner is seeking a system for the electronic
filing of tax returns to interface with both its existing back office systems and planned methods of
electronic payment.
The following outlines the process that will be followed by the Computer Systems and Services
Department (CSSD) to seek proposals from potential vendors.
Submission Deadline
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Vendor proposals must be submitted by 4:00 PM, Friday 12 January 2001
Submission Delivery
Vendors may deliver submissions by e-mail or hard copy (3 copies) to:
e-mail: llewis@bdagov.bm
hard copy: CSSD
Warner Building
64 King Street, Hamilton HM 12
BERMUDA
Attention: Mrs. Lorraine Lewis
All submissions become the property of CSSD and will not be returned. All conditions contained
in the RFP are considered accepted by the vendor in any information submitted. Proposals
submitted in hard copy are to be triplicate (one original and two copies).
Vendor Submissions
The solution is to be delivered as two projects as detailed in the attached “eTax – Requirements”
document. The initial contract will be awarded for Project 1 only, with Project 2 being the subject
of an option to continue.
Submissions should therefore include the required information in two discrete parts, one for each
project. It will be acceptable for the Project 2 information to be at a higher level that that provided
for Project 1.
Submissions may be from individual vendors or multi-vendor consortiums and may propose
partial or total solutions. In particular, changes required to existing back office systems may be
included as part of the proposed solution or deemed the responsibility of the Government of
Bermuda and excluded from the proposed solution.
Submissions should be clearly marked "eTax - Response to Bermuda Government RFP Dated
8 DEC, 2000" and include the following information:
1. Proposed Solution - A description of the proposed solution that will meet the requirements
set out in the attachment entitled “eTax – Requirements”. The description should set out the
functions and features of the system and how it will work (i.e. process transactions). A
schematic may prove useful with fulfilling this requirement. Where changes to existing back
office systems are included as part of the solution, these must be described here. Where
such changes are deemed the responsibility of the Government of Bermuda and excluded
from the solution, the interface requirements between the existing and proposed systems
must be described here.
2. Company Information - Including vendor qualifications and experience as well as
background information on the resources proposed to work on the project.
3. Cost of Acquisition - This refers to the total cost to develop and bring the new system
online. It should include, but not be limited to a break down of hardware, software, analysis,
design and programming, training, project management and any other costs (expenses). A
payment schedule must be included that contains milestones and the associated payment
amount.
4. Annual Cost of Ownership - This should identify the annual recurring costs to operate the
system. It should include, but may not be limited to a breakdown of software license fees and
support contracts.
5. High-level Project Plan - This will show how the vendor proposes to approach the project
and will comply with the payment schedule referred to in paragraph 3 above.
6. Responsibilities of the Government of Bermuda - Involvement required of the
Government of Bermuda in terms of staff, office space, training facilities, computer hardware,
networking, cabling, or other supplies, programming changes to existing back office systems,
etc.
Pre-submission Information
All prospective vendors will be provided with this documentation and the opportunity to submit
written inquiries to CSSD the Department responsible for managing the Request for Proposal
(RFP) process. Such inquiries will be published, without identifying the source, along with the
CSSD’s response.
Each prospective vendor will also be allocated up to one half day (3.5 hours) to meet with staff
from the Office of the Tax Commissioner and CSSD for investigative purposes. These sessions
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will be available only during the period Monday 11th December 2000 to Friday 5 January 2001.
Session dates will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Vendors wishing to book a
session should contact Mrs. Lorraine Lewis of the CSSD at:
• Telephone (441) 297-7733
• Fax (441) 295-2948
• E-mail llewis@bdagov.bm
Vendor Responsibility
It is the vendor’s responsibility to ensure its complete understanding of the requirements and
instructions specified by the CSSD. In the event that clarification is required vendors should
submit written inquiries, clearly marked “eTax RFP”, to Mrs. Lorraine Lewis of the CSSD at:
COMPUTER SYSTEMS & SERVICES
Government of Bermuda
• Email llewis@bdagov.bm
• Fax (441) 295-2948
• Mail CSSD
Warner Building
64 King Street, Hamilton HM 12
BERMUDA
Such inquiries will be published, without identifying the source, along with the CSSD response.
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The final cut off time for questions will be 12:00 noon Wednesday 10 January 2001.
Amendments
At any time prior to the close of the RFP, CSSD may alter, amend, delete or add to, in whole or in
part, any terms or provisions of this RFP. CSSD may modify, amend or revise any provision of
this RFP or issue addendum at any time. CSSD will publish any such modification or
amendment, revision or addenda.
Evaluation Process
The proposals submitted to CSSD will be evaluated in conjunction with the Office of the Tax
Commissioner in a two-stage process with the first stage resulting in a short list of potential
vendors. Subsequently, the short listed vendors will be requested to arrange for a demonstration
of their product offering, which may result in the award of a contract. The only information that
will then be released is the name of the successful vendor.
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It is anticipated that the short list of potential vendors will be selected by Friday 26 January 2001
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and that the successful vendor will be selected by Friday 9 February 2001.
Negotiations
CSSD reserves the right to enter into discussions or to negotiate with a vendor as it sees fit, or
with another vendor or vendors concurrently. In no event will CSSD be required to enter into
discussions or negotiations on similar or other terms or offer any modified terms to any other
vendor prior to entering into a binding contract. CSSD shall incur no liability to any vendor as a
result of these discussions, negotiations or modifications.
Acceptance and Authority to cancel this RFP
CSSD will not be obliged to accept the lowest price or any of the proposals submitted. Each
vendor acknowledges and agrees that the CSSD will have no liability or obligation to any vendor,
except to the party, if any, awarded a contract by the CSSD in its sole discretion and the CSSD
shall be fully and forever released and discharged of all liability and obligation in connection with
this Request for Proposal (RFP). CSSD will not make public the vendor submissions and
reserves the right to cancel this RFP without any obligation or reimbursement to vendors.
References
Before awarding any contract CSSD reserves the right to require the vendor to submit such
evidence of qualifications as it may deem appropriate. This evidence may be concerning
financial, technical and other qualifications as well as the relevant experience and skills of the
Vendor.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS & SERVICES
Government of Bermuda
Application Delivery
The solution is considered delivered when the application is running in production mode and
signed off by the Office of the Tax Commissioner and CSSD. The solution is to be delivered in
two Projects, comprising a number of Phases, as outlined in the attached “eTax – Requirements”
document.
Summary of Key Dates
Item From To/By
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Publish Request for Proposal 8 December 2000
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Vendor investigation sessions 11 December 2000 5 January 2001
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Cut off for questions 10 January 2001 (12:00 noon)
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Vendor proposals submitted 12 January 2001 (4:00 pm)
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Vendor shortlist 26 January 2001
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Vendor selection 9 February 2001
ePayroll Tax pilot April 2001
Thank you for your interest.
Sincerely
Peter A. Smith
Systems and Programming Manager
Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
1 Introduction
The Office of the Tax Commissioner is responsible for administering the collection of various
taxes and duties including Payroll Tax, Land Tax, Hotel Occupancy Tax, Corporate Services Tax,
Timesharing Taxes, Passenger Taxes, Betting Taxes, Foreign Currency Purchase Tax and
Stamp Duties, in accordance with the following legislation:
• The Payroll Tax Act 1995
• The Payroll Tax Rates Act 1995
• The Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976
• The Taxes Management Act 1976
• The Miscellaneous Taxes (Rates) Act 1980
• The Corporate Services Tax Act 1995
• The Land Valuation and Tax Act 1967
• The Passenger Tax Act 1972
• The Foreign Currency Purchase Tax Act 1975
• The Stamp Duties Act 1976
In the 1999 Throne Speech, the Bermuda Government undertook to provide electronic methods
for the filing of Payroll Tax returns. In addition, the Office of the Tax Commissioner believes that
there are further business benefits to be gained from the provision of electronic account enquiry
and payment facilities for Land Tax and, in the longer term, provision of electronic filing facilities
for all taxes for which the Office is responsible.
Thus the Office of the Tax Commissioner initially wishes to provide taxpayers with electronic
interfaces for both Payroll Tax registration and returns and account enquiry and payment of Land
Tax. Subsequent project phases will include provision of electronic filing for other taxes.
2 Objectives of eTax
The Office of the Tax Commissioner expects that eTax will be more convenient, easier to use and
faster than the current process. In particular, the Tax Commissioner’s Office wishes to satisfy the
following objectives by the introduction of eTax:
• Improve services to taxpayers
• Reduce processing times for tax returns
• Increase accuracy of tax returns
• Embrace modern technologies
• Reduce turn around times for cash receipting
• Free up resources to assign to other duties
• Provide 24x7 Government services
• Reduce physical congestion in public areas of the Tax Commissioner’s Office and
Cashiers
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
3 Overview of Current Systems
3.1 General Overview
The Office of the Tax Commissioner currently uses two separate computer systems running on
the AS/400:
a. The Tax Commissioner System – for Payroll, Hotel Occupancy, Corporate Services
and Timesharing Taxes
b. The Land Tax System – for Land Tax only.
Both systems were developed in-house in the early 1980’s and have been subject to a number of
updates and enhancements over the years. The systems are written mainly in RPG, with some
SYNON.
The remaining Passenger Taxes, Betting Taxes, Foreign Currency Purchase Tax and Stamp
Duties are currently processed manually, using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to record receipts.
The Office of the Tax Commissioner is in the process of building an informational web site.
The current Government accounting system (JDEdwards running on the AS/400 and written in
RPG) supports EDI, however there is no direct linkage with either the Tax Commissioner or Land
Tax systems. The Accountant General currently uses EDI for Payroll purposes. A project to
establish methods of electronic payment for Government accounts receivable is to commence
shortly.
3.2 Payroll Tax
3.2.1 Background
a. In accordance with the Payroll Tax Act 1995, the Payroll Tax Rates Act 1995, the Taxes
Management Act 1976, the Miscellaneous Taxes Act 1976 and the Miscellaneous Taxes
Rates Act 1980 all employers and self-employed persons are required to register with the
Office of the Tax Commissioner and to pay a tax based on their annual remuneration.
b. The existing AS/400 Tax Commissioner System (as described in 3.1 above) provides
functionality to manage taxpayer and tax return information for a number of taxes, including
Payroll Tax. Some modules are specific to the individual tax types; others are generic for all
tax types. For Payroll Tax, the system:
• holds registered taxpayer information
• holds and validates tax return information
• calculates underpayments and penalties and produces notices and statements
• holds a receivables ledger for outstanding taxes due and their history; but does not
provide receivables at a specific date
• identifies taxpayers paying the incorrect tax rate for the tax year; but does not
calculate the under/overpayment at year end
• calculates “assessments” in cases of non-filed returns
• provides debt aging and management functionality
• has a manually initiated batch upload process from the Accountant General’s
Department cash receipting system Quadrant
• has manually initiated reconciliation adjustments with the Government accounting
system JD Edwards;
c. There are currently 4000 registered Payroll taxpayers.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
3.2.2 Taxpayer Registration
a. To register, a taxpayer completes and returns a questionnaire (Form P1) provided by the Tax
Commissioner’s Office. A copy of this form is attached. Based on information provided in the
registration questionnaire, the Tax Commissioner’s staff allocates a Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) number, which identifies the nature of the taxpayer’s business. The
taxpayer registration information is then keyed into the AS/400 system. The system
automatically assigns a unique taxpayer id# consisting of nine digits, the first three of which
are the SIC number. The Tax Commissioner’s staff records the id# on the paper files and
sends the newly registered taxpayer a form letter advising their id#.
3.2.3 Submission of Returns
a. Payroll Tax is self-reporting and the tax rate payable is dependant on a number of criteria,
including the total annual payroll. Details of current rates and conditions are included in the
attached Payroll Tax returns (PR1 and PREX1).
b. Payroll Tax returns are filed quarterly and within fifteen days after the end of the quarter. The
st
tax year commences 1 April. The penalty for late filing and underpayment of returns is 5%
per month, up to a maximum of 30%.
c. Taxpayers manually prepare tax returns, which are issued by the Tax Commissioner’s Office.
With effect from April 1, 2000, payroll tax returns were not printed in duplicate. Taxpayers are
requested to make a photocopy for their records prior to filing, although a copy of a receipted
return will be provided on request.
d. Tax returns are either mailed (with cheque remittance) to the Tax Commissioner’s Office or
are presented for payment (cheque or cash) directly by the taxpayer to the Cashier in the
Accountant General’s Department.
e. Tax returns mailed into the Tax Commissioner’s Office are stamped “Received” and
submitted on a daily basis to the Accountant General’s Cashiers for official receipting of
remittances. The correct date of receipt is vital, as it is used to identify cases where penalties
apply for non-compliance with filing timescales.
3.2.4 Cash Receipting
a. The turn-around time for the receipting of tax returns by the Cashiers varies from two to five
days. With effect from July 1, 2000, the Tax Commissioner’s Office has the ability to officially
receipt all mail remittances in order to speed up the receipting process. This facility is directly
attached to the Accountant General’s Quadrant Cash receipting system, which will facilitate
the daily cash reconciliation/deposit by the Chief Cashier. However, at the present time the
Tax Commissioner’s Office is unable to make use of this facility.
b. The Quadrant cash receipting system is a PC based single point of entry for cash receipts
information, from which the Government Accounting system (JD Edwards) and individual
Government business systems are updated by means of separate files uploaded to the
AS400 on a daily basis.
c. The existing cash receipting system only allows for returns to be receipted with the taxpayer
id# and the amount of the cash/cheque payment. Updating of individual taxpayer records with
the detailed tax return information is a separate process performed by the Process Operator
once the receipted returns are returned to the Tax Commissioner’s Office from the Chief
Cashier.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
3.2.5 Returns Processing
a. Before returns are processed, they must be reconciled in-house to the Cashier’s daily payroll
tax receipts, batched, and individually checked for completeness and mathematical accuracy.
b. Processing of returns requires all relevant numerical fields displayed on the return to be input.
Returns filed without payment are also input. The system performs validation checks on the
return information, including calculation of the amount due and a check against the cash file
containing details of payments received. A validation report is produced, which shows both
successfully validated returns and those with errors. The Tax Commissioner’s Office staff
manually checks the report to identify the errors, and obtains and re-keys the correct
information. This manual check is extremely resource intensive and causes serious
bottlenecks in the processing of returns.
c. Processing stops at this point for successfully validated returns. The system writes details of
returns with underpayments and penalties to a temporary ledger file, from which letters are
subsequently produced.
d. It takes approximately five weeks after the end of the quarter for the tax returns to be
processed. It is only after the bulk of the returns are processed, that the normal month-end
production of underpayment notices, penalty notices and statements is initiated.
3.2.6 Non-Compliance Processing
a. Taxpayers are considered non-compliant if they do not file a return, file a return late,
underpay tax properly due or have an outstanding debt due to one of the above.
b. At each month end underpayment and penalty notices are produced from the temporary
ledger file and statements are produced from the main ledger file. The temporary ledger file
holds details of underpayments and penalties calculated during the validation process. Once
the notices are produced, the main ledger file is updated with the taxpayer account
information and the temporary ledger file is emptied. The main ledger file holds taxpayer
account history details for underpayments, penalties, aged debts, payments against debts
and assessments for non-filed returns.
c. The system records in a delinquencies file those taxpayers who fail to file a return. At
specified intervals and after checking the cash file for receipt of payment, the system
generates reminder letters for these taxpayers. The Tax Commissioner’s Office can send out
two sets of reminder letters. If no response to the second reminder letter is received within
the specified timeframe, the Tax Commissioner’s Office runs the auto assessment process.
This generates an assessment based on the last return filed by the taxpayer. The amount of
the assessment is added to the main ledger file as a receivable and will be included in the
taxpayer’s monthly statement.
d. Tax Auditors from the Office of the Tax Commissioner have powers to review taxpayers’
financial accounts to ensure compliance. In cases of non-compliance, the Tax Auditor will
manually calculate an assessment and send the taxpayer a billing. Details of the assessment
are input to the taxpayer account and included on the main ledger file as a receivable.
e. Payments made against outstanding debts may be made to the Cashiers, the Tax
Commissioner’s Office (cheques only) or the Account General’s Debt Collection Office. Such
payments are recorded on a ledger payment form and receipted by the Cashiers as
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
described above. The receipted forms are returned to the Tax Commissioner’s Office for
reconciliation and initiation of the process to update the taxpayer account and main ledger.
3.2.7 End of Year Reconciliation
a. The rate of Payroll tax payable is based on the annual remuneration of the business. At the
end of the tax year the system calculates the total remuneration reported for the year for each
taxpayer and checks that the correct tax rate has been applied. A report is produced of those
taxpayers applying an incorrect tax rate. The system does not calculate the associated under
or overpayment, this is done manually. The taxpayer is notified of the error and the
appropriate credit or debit is added to the main ledger file.
3.3 Land Tax
3.3.1 Background
a. In accordance with the Land Valuation and Tax Act 1967 all private dwellings and commercial
buildings in Bermuda are assessed for an Annual Rental Value (ARV) and are subject to a
Land Tax, based on the ARV.
b. The Land Valuation Department is responsible for the allocation of assessment numbers (a
unique 9 digit number that identifies a property) and assessment of the ARV. The Office of
the Tax Commissioner is responsible for the collection of Land Tax, based on the ARV
assessed by Land Valuation.
c. The existing AS/400 Land Tax system in use by The Office of the Tax Commissioner:
• holds owner and property information for all assessed properties
• holds a transaction history of account debits and credits
• calculates standard Land Tax payments due and produces bills
• calculates interest due on outstanding balances and produces statements
• has a manually initiated batch upload process from the Accountant General’s
Department cash receipting system Quadrant;
• has manually initiated reconciliation adjustments with the Government accounting
system JD Edwards
d. There are currently 30,000 properties assessed for Land Tax. An individual taxpayer may be
responsible for Land Tax on multiple properties. Some financial institutions assume
responsibility for Land Tax payments on properties for which they grant a mortgage. Work
currently is in hand to facilitate an electronic transfer for bulk payments made by such
institutions.
3.3.2 New and Revised Assessments
a. The Office of the Tax Commissioner receives base information for new or re-assessed
properties (“proposals”) from the Land Valuation Department. This is in electronic format from
a manually initiated file upload into the Land Tax system. The Registry General provides
change of ownership information on paper. This is keyed into the Land Tax system by staff in
the Tax Commissioner’s Office.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
3.3.3 Billing
a. Land Tax payable for commercial properties is a straight % (currently 5.5%) of the ARV. For
private dwellings, ARV’s are grouped into five bands with each band subject to a % tax rate.
The Land Tax is assessed using the % tax rate applicable to each portion of the ARV. The
Land Tax actually payable for private dwellings is then based on a percentage (currently
60%) of the Land Tax assessed. Two tables showing a) the current Land Tax bands and tax
rates and b) Land Tax assessed and payable for selected ARVs are included with the
attachments. Concessions on Land Tax for private dwellings are given to owner-occupiers
aged over 65 with Bermudian status. The Tax Commissioner may also grant exemption, on
financial grounds, from Land Tax on a private dwelling.
b. The Office of the Tax Commissioner issues Land Tax bills twice yearly in January and July,
with payment being due by March and September respectively. Each bill covers the Land Tax
due on a single property for the six-month period of January to June or July to December,
plus any outstanding balance.
3.3.4 Cash Receipting
a. Land Tax payments are either mailed (with cheque remittance) to the Tax Commissioner’s
office or are presented for payment (cheque or cash) directly by the taxpayer to the Cashier
in the Accountant General’s Department.
b. Land Tax payments mailed into the Tax Commissioner’s Department are date stamped
“Received” and submitted on a daily basis to the Accountant General’s Cashiers for official
receipting of remittances.
c. The turn-around time for the receipting of tax payments by the Cashiers varies from two to
five days. With effect from July 1, 2000, the Tax Commissioner’s Office has the ability to
officially receipt all mail remittances receipts in order to speed up the receipting process. This
facility is directly attached to the Accountant General’s Quadrant Cash receipting system,
which will facilitate the daily cash reconciliation/deposit by the Chief Cashier. However, at the
present time the Tax Commissioner’s Office is unable to make use of this facility.
d. The Quadrant cash receipting system is a single point of entry for cash receipts information,
from which the Government Accounting system (JD Edwards) and individual Government
business systems are updated by means of separate upload files
e. The existing cash receipting system only allows for payments to be receipted with the
assessment # and the amount of the cash/cheque payment. Updating of individual Land Tax
records is a separate batch process manually initiated by the Tax Commissioner’s Office. The
information from the cash receipting system file is uploaded to the Land Tax system, once it
has been satisfactorily proofed against paper records provided by the Chief Cashier.
3.3.5 Adjustments and Overdue Billings
a. Adjustments to the Land Tax payable on an individual property (e.g. because a person
becomes entitled to concessions during the billing period) are calculated and recorded
manually. The adjustment is then keyed into the Land Tax system transaction history.
b. Each month interest, currently 7% annually, is calculated on, and added to, any overdue
balance and statements are produced for all taxpayers whose accounts are in arrears.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
3.4 Other Taxes
The Office of the Tax Commissioner is also responsible for collection of:
• Hotel Occupancy Tax
• Corporate Services Tax
• Timesharing Occupancy Tax
• Timesharing Services Tax
• Betting Tax
• Cruise Ship Departure Tax
• Airport Departure Tax
• Passenger Cabin Tax
• Yacht Arrival Tax
• Stamp Duty
• Foreign Currency Purchase Tax
a. Hotel Occupancy Tax – self-reporting on a monthly basis. 7.25% of total rack rate sales
(charge made for accommodation, including meals where a separate charge has not been
made) for all licensed hotels. Part of Tax Commissioner System on AS/400.
b. Corporate Services Tax – self-reporting on a quarterly basis. 4% of gross revenue derived
from corporate services provided to exempt undertakings. Part of Tax Commissioner System
on AS/400.
c. Timesharing Occupancy Tax – self-reporting within a specified period of the sale/resale of
each timesharing interval. 10% of purchase price for each timeshare interval sold/resold. Part
of Tax Commissioner System on AS/400.
d. Timesharing Services Tax – self-reporting on a monthly basis. 5% of total charges made for
operation and maintenance of the timeshare establishment. Part of Tax Commissioner
System on AS/400.
e. Manually Processed Taxes - Betting Tax, Cruise Ship Departure Tax, Airport Departure
Tax, Passenger Cabin Tax, Yacht Arrival Tax, Stamp Duty and Foreign Currency Purchase
Tax do NOT form part of the eTax requirement at this time.
4 Business Requirements
Requirement 1 - is for electronic registration and filing in respect of Payroll Tax and for electronic
account enquiry for Land Tax. The new eTax system(s) must interface with the existing back
office systems, which will continue to be used. The need for some modification to the existing
back office systems is anticipated, which may either form part of the vendor solution or may be
deemed a responsibility of the Government of Bermuda. The new eTax system(s) must also
provide appropriate hooks to interface with planned methods of electronic payment.
Requirement 2 - is for electronic filing for those other taxes currently processed on the AS/400
system. Back office and electronic payment interfaces will again be required.
It is anticipated that the implementation of eTax will be in two phased Projects, so as to achieve
the greatest business benefits at the earliest opportunity. The proposed Projects and phases are
as below. The pilot project for Payroll Tax filing is required no later than April 2001. Timing of
other phases will be agreed later, based on the High-level Project Plan provided by the vendor.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
! Project 1 – Payroll Tax and Land Tax
• Phase 1 – electronic filing for Payroll Tax
# Phase 1a – pilot project with larger taxpayers by April 2001
# Phase 1b – roll out to all taxpayers
• Phase 2 – electronic registration for new Payroll taxpayers
• Phase 3 – electronic account enquiry for Land Tax
! Project 2 – electronic filing for other taxes
4.1 General Requirements
i. Taxpayer access to tax systems will be via secure means that include taxpayer
authentication.
ii. Tax Commissioner staff will have the ability to administer PINs/passwords/electronic
signatures or other authentication methods.
iii. Links to associated Web sites (e.g. Land Valuation at www.landvaluation.bm) will be
included; these should be embedded at appropriate locations within the system rather than
just appearing on a “Links” page.
4.2 Payroll Tax Requirements
4.2.1 Electronic Filing
i. Registered taxpayers will have secured access to the payroll tax system via the Tax
Commissioner’s website.
ii. Taxpayers will be able to prepare and file their tax return online.
iii. Taxpayers not wishing to file online will be able to prepare their tax return online and print a
hard copy for manual filing.
iv. The system will automatically provide prompts drop-down menus and lookups where
appropriate and have a built-in help facility.
v. The system will proof the data received for mathematical accuracy and perform all
calculations, including the amount of tax to be paid. Where the taxpayer wishes to print the
return and file manually, the calculation and notification of the amount of tax to be paid must
include a “due date” after which the amount will be subject to additional penalty charges.
vi. Taxpayers will not have to complete returns in one sitting. They will be able to partially
complete a return and come back later to finalise and submit or print.
vii. The system will allow the taxpayer to print a copy of their completed returns together with
confirmation that the information has been received by the Tax Commissioner’s Office. This
confirmation will be in the form of an official date/time stamped receipt.
viii. The system will be able to accept resubmitted returns, subject to business rules regarding
close off dates for the purposes of determining non-compliance.
ix. Taxpayer will be able to view and print previously filed returns and details of any outstanding
balances.
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
x. The new interface will allow for automatic calculation and confirmation of penalty for late filing
which will be included in the total amount due.
xi. The system will be flexible enough to allow the Tax Commissioner’s staff to cope with annual
budget changes. It will include facilities for Tax Commissioner staff to update the base
information used to calculate taxes. These facilities will provide for the updates made to the
base information on the back office system to be directly incorporated into the online system.
xii. Electronic filing of a tax return presupposes simultaneous online payment. The system will
not therefore allow for an electronic return to be made without an associated electronic
payment.
xiii. The system will allow taxpayers to submit a pre-prepared electronic file, without the need to
re-input returns data. Such files will be in a single standard file format, defined by the vendor
and the Tax Commissioner’s Office. The file format will be published on the system. The
system will automatically reject submissions that do not conform to the standard, provide
error descriptions and return the submission to the taxpayer.
4.2.2 Electronic Registration
i. New taxpayers will be able to complete and submit registration details on-line.
ii. The system will automatically provide prompts and have a built-in help facility.
iii. Taxpayers will not have to complete registration in one sitting. They will be able to partially
complete a registration form and return later to finalise and submit.
iv. The system will explain SIC classifications and allow new taxpayers to pick the classification
number appropriate to their business.
v. The system will allow the taxpayer to print a copy of their completed registration form.
vi. Confirmation of registration, including notification of taxpayer id#, will be automatically
provided to the taxpayer via email following any manual authentication required.
4.3 Land Tax Requirements
i. Taxpayers will have secured access to the land tax system via the Tax Commissioner’s
website .
ii. Taxpayer will be able to view and print latest billing information and details of any outstanding
balances.
4.4 E-Payment Requirements
The vendor is not expected to provide solutions to the methods of e-payment. These will be the
subject of a separate project and direct negotiations between the Bermuda Government and local
financial institutions. The vendor is expected to provide solutions to include the hooks necessary
to accept e-payment via the methods approved.
Although no decisions have yet been taken, it is expected that the e-payment methods approved
will consist of third party payments, which may include but not be limited to, payments via ATM,
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
bank auto debit, EDI with financial institutions. It is unlikely that the approved methods will include
payment by credit or debit card.
i. The new interface(s) will allow for secure means of payment on line, including partial
payments.
ii. Online payments will automatically update taxpayer’s account and Government Accounting
system.
iii. Confirmation of receipt of funds is to be done online within a period of 48 hours.
iv. The interface will include the facility for bulk online payments of Land Tax by financial
institutions.
v. Land taxpayers with multiple properties will be able to make one electronic payment
transaction for some or all of their properties. The payment will be allocated to specific
assessment numbers.
vi. The amount of payment calculated as due will include and provide details of any previous
underpayments and associated penalties and any previous partial payments.
4.5 Other Taxes Requirements
i. These are essentially the same as for Payroll Tax, including registration (taxpayer id# is
consistent across Payroll, Hotel Occupancy, Corporate Services and Timesharing Taxes and
one registration form could be used for all)
4.6 Documentation Requirements
i. User documentation is required for any parts of the system that will be used by the Tax
Commissioner’s Office. Where appropriate this should take the form of “help” information
attached to screens and fields, otherwise hard copy should be provided. It should describe
the data, processing steps and user actions required.
ii. System documentation is required to support ongoing maintenance. This should include, but
not be limited to, an overview of the design, schematic of data model, database layouts, and
special processing information defining any special techniques or nuances of the
programming/design.
5 Infrastructure Requirements
The Office of the Tax Commissioner currently uses PCs (Win95), which are all connected to
Bermuda Government's WAN, with full internet and email access. No PC file sharing is currently
in place.
The system may be delivered on any of the following standard hardware/software architectures of
CSSD:
• IBM AS/400 platform - RISC based
• Windows/Intel platform – WIN2000
• LAN server – WIN2000
• Databases - SQL or DB/400
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
• MS Office2000
• Network - Ethernet, TCP/IP
• Wide Area - Frame Relay 256KB
• Internet
The proposed system must also
• be Year 2000 compliant;
• comply with the Bermuda Government computer security policy;
• comply with the CSSD Network Security;
• include a backup and recovery plan;
• provide a full audit trail, i.e. each transaction should be user/date/time stamp;
• allow for every user to have an individual user profile and security;
• allow for groups of users to be defined.
6 Physical Office Locations
The Government Departments and business units referred to in this document are based in a
number of physical locations within the City of Hamilton as follows:
CSSD (Administration) CSSD (Computer Room)
Warner Building Government Administration Building
64 King Street 30 Parliament Street
Hamilton HM 12 Hamilton HM 12
Office of the Tax Commissioner Accountant General
F.B. Perry Building Government Administration Building
40 Church Street 30 Parliament Street
Hamilton HM 12 Hamilton HM 12
Cashiers
Government Administration Building
30 Parliament Street
Hamilton HM 12
7 Attachments
! Form P1 - Payroll Tax Registration Form
! Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non-exempt undertakings)
! Form PR1EX – Payroll Tax Return (exempt undertakings)
! Land Tax Bands, Rates and Amounts Table
! Land Tax Demand Note
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Government of Bermuda____________________________________________________eTax Requirements
! Land Tax Statement
! Form H2 – Hotel Occupancy Registration Form
! Form H1 – Hotel Occupancy Tax Return
! Form H3 – Hotel Occupancy Tax Auditors Report (for use with section 4(a) of Form H1)
! Form CS2 – Corporate Services Tax Registration Form
! Form CS1 – Corporate Services Tax Return
! Form H4/GSO – Timesharing Occupancy Tax Return
! Form H7 – Timesharing Services Tax Return
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Form P1 – Payroll Tax Registration Form
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1 – Payroll Tax Return (non exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1EX – Payroll Tax Return (exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1EX – Payroll Tax Return (exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1EX – Payroll Tax Return (exempt undertakings)
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Form PR1EX – Payroll Tax Return (exempt undertakings)
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Land Tax Bands, Rates and Amounts Tables
Band ARV $ Tax Rate %
1 0-9,000 1.50
2 9,001-18,000 3.00
3 18,001-27,000 6.00
4 27,001-36,000 13.00
5 36,001 or over 20.00
Table 1 – Land Tax Bands and Rates
Land
Land Tax
ARV Tax
Assessed Calculation
$ Payable
$
$
3,600 54.00 32.40 (3,600*1.5%)*60%
14,400 297.00 178.20 ((9,000*1.5%)+(5,400*3.0%))*60%
25,200 837.00 502.20 ((9,000*1.5%)+(9,000*3.0%)+(7,200*6.0%))*60%
33,600 1803.00 1081.80 ((9,000*1.5%)+(9,000*3.0%)+(9,000*6.0%)+(6,600*13.0%))*60%
93,000 1315.00 8109.00 ((9,000*1.5%)+(9,000*3.0%)+(9,000*6.0%)+(9,000*13.0%)+(57,000*20.0%))*60%
Table 2 - Example Land Tax Amounts Assessed and Payable Table
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Land Tax Demand Note
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Land Tax Statement
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Form H2 – Hotel Occupancy Registration
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Form H1 – Hotel Occupancy Tax Return
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Form H3 – Hotel Occupancy Tax Auditors Report
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Form CS2 – Corporate Services Tax Registration Form
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Form CS1 – Corporate Services Tax Return
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Form H4/GSO – Time Sharing Occupancy Tax Return
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Form H7 – Timesharing Services Tax Return
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