Business leader David Ezekiel warned a graduated fee structure for work permits, if handled incorrectly, could lead to accusations of "killing the golden goose".

While Mr. Ezekiel said he was pleased to see Immigration Minister David Burch was committed to fixing the current system – which many bemoan as impossible and overly bureaucratic – he said there were some concerns about a new fee structure mentioned by Minister David Burch last week.

Minister Burch told guests at the Chamber of Commerce's Annual General Meeting that work permits for heads of companies are likely to cost the business community more than those granted to gardeners as the Government looks at introducing a graduated fee structure.

Yesterday Mr. Ezekiel, who is the chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies, said: "The idea of graduated fees makes sense, if applied properly, and in the end it all boils down to the degree of the changes.

"These changes are usually, however, increases at the top end without any decreases at the bottom end, but that is the way governments work.

"The Minister will need to take into account the ever-increasing cost of doing business in Bermuda for international business which is already at the top end of the scale in comparison to our competitors."

A graduated fee structure has been mentioned before, Mr. Ezekiel said, but little research seems to have been done on it.

He added that contrary to what many people thought, moving to a graduated fee system would not put Bermuda in line with practices in the Cayman Islands, because international business here already pays large sums to the Government.

"International business in Cayman does not have to pay the tens of millions of dollars in payroll taxes which, in Bermuda, dwarfs the cost of work permit fees paid by companies in Cayman," he said.

"Government has to walk a very fine line here and cliches such as 'killing the golden goose' come to mind.

"International business will accept a sensible realignment of the fee structure, but anything more than that will have a severe impact on the businesses currently in Bermuda and, more worryingly, a much greater impact on those making the decision whether to locate here or in a competing domicile, and this will reduce job opportunities and revenue opportunities for Bermuda and Bermudians for many years to come.

"Bermuda has held on to its lead in this sector despite a series of challenges and we have always maintained that this game is ours to win or lose.

"We are confident that Minister Burch will have this clearly in his sights whilst formulating any new proposals."