Legislation to reform the payroll tax and customs duty regimes and help introduce casino gaming in Bermuda was passed by senators last night.

The Payroll Tax Amendment Act 2017, the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2017 and the Casino Gaming (General Reserve and Casino Taxes) Regulations 2017 were all approved in the Senate.

The payroll tax reforms provide relief for employees in the bottom two income bands, while the salary cap will be raised from $750,000 to $900,000 and hotel concessions will be rolled back.

Senator Michael Fahy said the reforms would bring $439 million in revenue and noted that “after careful consideration” the implementation of the employees portion of the reform would be postponed until July 1.

PLP Senator Kim Wilkerson questioned whether “real consultation” had taken place given the delay in implementing the employees portion of the reform, while Independent Senator James Jardine welcomed the “period of grace” given to employers.

The Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2017 introduces a range of duty hikes on fuel, wine and tobacco to boost revenue, but also relief for goods imported for renewable-energy systems including the proposed solar farm at the airport.

The Casino Gaming (General Reserve and Casino Taxes) Regulations 2017 had previously been sent back to the House of Assembly after Mr Jardine noticed mistakes in the terminology used in the act.

However, senators swiftly passed the regulations after the corrections had been made.

The Senate went on to approve a further four piece of legislation including The Bermuda Public Accountability Amendment Act 2017, the Companies Amendment Act 2017, the USA — Bermuda Tax Convention Amendment (No 2) Act 2017 and the he International Co-operation (Tax Information Exchange Agreements) Amendment (No 3) Act 2017.