The One Bermuda Alliance has congratulated the Tax Reform Commission on its report, saying the party backs its recommendation to swiftly reduce the island’s debt.

Douglas De Couto, the shadow finance minister, said that the party supports guidance that places focus on the stability of government funding, while addressing healthcare for seniors and underinsured residents.

Others — including the Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda, a former Chamber of Commerce president and think-tank Seed Bermuda — were also in favour of the recommendations.

Released yesterday, the commission’s 84-page report called for the corporate income tax to be used to halve Bermuda’s national debt within ten years.

It also recommended that $30 million be set aside to provide Future Care coverage for qualifying seniors, with unused premium funding redirected to eligible home care subsidies, and for $12 million to be saved to provide basic Health Insurance Plan benefits to people without employer-provided healthcare coverage.

Proposals were also made to make running a business more affordable, including the suggestion that a cap be placed on employer payroll tax rates at 7 per cent.

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Tax Reform Commission Report 2025

Dr De Couto said: “The OBA supports the report’s recommendations to rapidly decrease our country’s debt and annual interest costs, and focus on the stability of government funding while also taking care of healthcare for seniors and the underinsured.

“We also note the TRC’s call for transparency around how CIT funds are allocated, managed and governed.

“The Government has repeatedly ignored the OBA’s questions on how the tax reserve fund will be managed, so we hope the Government will follow the TRC suggestions on this and other proposals.

“We also support the report’s focus on healthcare, as it is a critical issue facing our island, both for individuals who can’t get the healthcare they need, and for businesses whose health insurance expenses make Bermuda too expensive to run a business and employ people.

“It’s important to know that the TRC recommendations for healthcare funding come with an expectation for real healthcare reform in Bermuda.”

The report called for $19 million to handle a 25 per cent refund of Standard Premium Rate contributions paid by employers in policy premiums, thereby reducing health insurance costs.

Dr De Couto said that the Government had “failed to deliver meaningful progress here”.

He welcomed the description in the report of the tax credits he said CIT payers have been looking for.

“Their focus on incentivising jobs, training, investment and philanthropy in Bermuda should provide a mutual benefit for Bermuda and CIT payers,” Dr De Couto said.

“We urge the Government to move quickly to implement these so that Bermuda remains an attractive jurisdiction.”

Finally, the shadow minister highlighted that the report referenced concerns from stakeholders about Bermuda’s “demographic and population challenges, politicised immigration system and concerns about the Government’s ability to properly handle the CIT funds on a practical, day-to-day basis”.

He added: “The report states that ‘Bermuda must avoid being complacent’. We could not agree more.

“There is real work to be done on our island, and it can’t be done just by using the CIT money to pay more — real changes are required.

“The TRC report contains many important recommendations. We urge the Government to move quickly to act on them.”

Peter Everson, who was the president of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce from 2005 to 2007 and former chairman of its economics committee, sad the report was “very good and very timely”.

He said: “It’s something the community should think about and make their individual voices heard.

“The repayment of debt is the number-one financial imperative.

“People fail to appreciate that when government borrows money in your name, they are committing you to pay the interest and to repay the principal of the loan at the end of ten years.

“The trend in this century is for the debt to get larger and larger, which tells us that those repayments at the end of ten years never happen.

“This generation of voters is passing on to their children and grandchildren ever larger interest payments and it is that what makes Bermuda unattractive to future generations.”

The Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda welcomed the report and its recognition of the “critical” role non-profit organisations play in strengthening Bermuda’s communities.

Nicola Paugh, its executive director, said the alliance was particularly supportive of the recommendation to introduce tax credits for charitable giving.

She said: “Corporate charitable giving is a vital funding stream for Bermuda’s non-profits.

“The proposed recommendation to provide tax credits for larger giving amounts, over $100,000 a year is also welcome.

“We are encouraged that the commission has highlighted this need.”

However, Dr Paugh said that the alliance was disappointed the report did not recommend direct government allocations for charitable grants out of CIT revenues but was glad to see social investment recommendations made to support access to healthcare, support for low-income populations and to address the housing crisis.

Robert Stubbs, the head of think-tank Seed Bermuda, said that participatory decision-making and achieving inclusive growth are the “holy grail” of sustainable development.

He said Bermuda is yet to fully recover from the 2008 global financial crisis, adding: “The adoption of Bermuda’s CIT and work of the Tax Reform Commission represent a major milestone for Bermuda.

“Regrettably, our failure to adopt appropriate structural reforms post-2008 only prolonged the crisis and precipitated a deep depression in Bermuda of historic proportion.

“The CIT and recommendations of the report represent the first genuinely substantive reforms adopted post-2008 by Bermuda’s corporate and political leadership that are needed to address the crisis.

“In Bermuda’s crisis recovery, this represents an historic step.”

The commission additionally recommended that a new group be empanelled to review the outcome of the report’s proposals and make suggestions based on data from CIT filings as well as any changes to rules related to global minimum tax.

The Government was invited to comment.

• UPDATE: this article has been updated with additional comments