The Bermuda Government E-tax website crashed for a time yesterday, causing concern among some employers trying to file their payroll tax returns.

The hub is also used by businesses for other taxes like land tax.

The incident sparked alarm as Friday is the deadline for payroll tax returns and payments.

Asked if it was a temporary problem, or a more long term situation, a Government spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette: “The E-tax site was down for a short time this morning but is now back up and operational.”

One worried user of the site contacted The Royal Gazette to say: “I’ve been attempting to submit our payroll tax return and payment, prior to this week’s deadline, but their website is down.

“I’m wondering whether it will be fixed before the deadline or will the late payment penalties be waived?”

The site, run by the Office of the Tax Commissioner, states: “The E-tax system is now accepting payroll tax returns for the fiscal year 2022/2023 - April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.”

Payroll taxes must be paid by the 15th day of the month after the end of a quarter, so payroll taxes for the period April 1 to June 30 must be submitted by Friday.