The Premier has walked back post-Budget remarks in which he called bringing income tax onto Bermuda’s books “a needed change”, saying public views that such a move might be imminent were “misplaced”.

It came as David Burt highlighted references in his latest Budget Statement to the Ministry of Finance starting the ball rolling on data collection for “future decisions” over introducing a low rate, broad-based income tax.

However, in an opinion piece in The Royal Gazette today, Mr Burt cautioned that while public debate was healthy, discussions should be “grounded in what is actually contained in the Budget Statement, not in speculation about what may or may not occur years from now”.

Mr Burt’s Budget Statement noted that recommendations issued last year in the report by the Tax Reform Commission would “remain a reference point” in the continuing modernisation of the island’s tax regime, including a “careful and measured” review of the proposal.

The topic featured on Monday in the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce’s Budget Breakfast.

In that instance, the Premier and Minister of Finance said he was grateful for the commission’s recommendation.

Mr Burt told the gathering that tax reform, including income tax, represented “a needed change that we have to press forward with” and urged various groups on the island to “lean into this conversation”, describing the present system as “unfair”.

He also said any move to a personal income tax would be an enterprise of years, while the Association of Bermuda International Companies said the move needed “careful consideration, study and extensive consultation”.

Christian Dunleavy, the Abic chairman, cautioned: “A personal income tax, alongside the CIT [corporate income tax], could be a disincentive for job retention and creation on island as well as a countermeasure to the recently introduced substance-based tax credit, the job-based benefit factor.”

In his remarks today, Mr Burt appeared to soften his stance, saying some had been left with “the impression that this Budget proposed the immediate implementation of a personal income tax”, rather than proposing data collection to allow “an informed discussion in the future”.

He added that commissioning experts could not come with disregarding recommendations that “prompt uncomfortable conversations”.

Mr Burt said while the island’s present tax system was “efficient”, it was also regressive — requiring a recognition of its limits.

He added: “Fairness is a destination, and we must keep improving our systems to ensure that Bermuda’s tax framework is more fair and sustainable.”