Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons has once again called on the Government to release the Tax Review, a document which explores the way tax is collected in Bermuda.

The former United Bermuda Party Minister of Finance has been repeatedly asking for the review to be made public since the last budget.

The most recent challenge came in March, when Finance Minister Eugene Cox was asked to produce the review of the tax system which was originally undertaken by a consultant in 1999. Mr. Cox said, when the Progressive Labour Party came into power, that he would have another look at the review before making it public.

But Mr. Gibbons said: "The tax review Mr. Cox promised in the last budget and the lead up to the last election is way overdue.

"I think he really should be coming forward with the tax review looking at what I very much think is a changing, a shifting economy and giving people a clear look so we can have some discussion about it as to how Government sees raising its revenue going forward."

Mr. Gibbons believes that the Bermuda economy could be affected by the world downturn in the next six months and has urged Government to curb spending and warned of a possible slacking off of the economy.

And he pointed to a decrease in spending on the Island and called on Government to find a way to help retailers, who overall saw their revenues decrease by 6.1 percent in June.

Mr. Gibbons added: "I think it is going to be very important going forward for Government to rethink how it raises its revenue. The retailers have clearly been expressing their unease and their need to get some assistance."

The Royal Gazette contacted Mr. Cox's office on Friday to give him the right to reply. At the time of going to press Mr. Cox had not replied to the statements made by Mr. Gibbons.

In his first budget statement Mr. Cox said: "In the election platform the Government pledged to conduct a review of taxation in Bermuda before deciding whether to make any changes in the structure."

He added he had met with consultants and he had asked them to perform additional work in this area to "assist me in my review".

He said: "The Government will fulfil its commitment to a tax review but the time available since the election has not been sufficient to complete such an exercise at this date."

Mr. Gibbons said that the issue of a duty free Bermuda - which Mr. Cox appeared to have dismissed last week in an interview with The Royal Gazette - should be looked at in greater detail.

He said: "One of the reasons the tax review should have been released is because there was a fair amount of discussion in that report on precisely that issue on customs duty and the other ways in which the Government raises tax.

"It was promised and I think this would be a timely point at which to, with Mr. Cox having further worked on it, to get that out and have a broader discussion on the issue.

"Certainly when the UBP was in power there was in that review a discussion about how a duty free regime could be structured which would protect the bulk of customs duty but give the visitor-orientated businesses a way of having a duty rebate, basically."

He added: "But I think that it is important to get that out on the table at this point. I guess to put it bluntly Mr. Cox seemed to be comfortable with where his revenue was in terms of his discussion of the economy, but I think that if you talk to any taxi driver, hotelier or restaurant they certainly haven't been getting the revenue they were hoping for this summer."