New Work Permit fees to take effect May 15, 2017
Speaking in the House of Assembly today, April 18, 2017 Hon Pickering, in a statement on the new work permit fee structure, said special considerations have been made for domestic workers, who will pay 1% of their annual salary for their work permit.
For all other workers, the fee for earnings up to 25,000 per annum will be charged at 3%, while the fee for earnings from 25,001 to $50, 000 will be translated at 5%.
The work permit fee for earnings above 50,001 will be calculated at 7%, while earnings in excess of 150,000 per annum will also be charged at 7%.
There is a fee cap at $10,000, which means no work permit will cost above $10, 000.
The fee structure also introduces a $50 application fee in addition to the $75 fee currently charged for the issuing of the work permit card.
Penalty for understating income
“With the new structure requiring high income earners to pay higher fees we recognise that there is a potential risk of persons to understate their income to benefit from lower work permit fees; however, Madam Speaker, we have taken step discourage this practice by including a penalty that is 10% of annual income for understating your income,” Hon Pickering stated.
He also noted that work permit fees were “not arbitrarily raised” but were done through consultation with “industry practitioners.”
Hon Pickering also stated that the processing of work permits will be done within four weeks in collaboration with Immigration Department.
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31 Responses to “New Work Permit fees to take effect May 15, 2017”
1 payroll tax at 14%
2 social security at 7%
3 national insurance at 7%
Now we will have work permit fees, for more than 50% of the work force, at 5% to 7%.
All together 35% in tax.
We also have very expensive food, electricity and accommodation - accommodation is probably on its way down because of the number of people leaving the BVI but that means that we will not be able to pay our mortgages.
Government departments, and in particular the labour and immigration departments, have spent the last 20 years creating obstacles to businesses wanting to operate in the BVI, and in particular in the two pillars of our economy - financial services and yachting.
The difficultly is most apparent in financial services because that business does not need to stay in the BVI. Problems in obtaining work permits, the delays is processing applications, the extraordinary bureaucracy, and the downright rudeness of the staff have persuaded financial service companies in particular to relocate as much of their work to their non-BVI offices as possible.
The consequence is that most of the financial services work in the BVI consists of filing documents, that our prepared overseas, at the FSC in the BVI.
Jersey, Guernsey, Cayman and Bermuda, in particular, have encouraged and allowed businesses to recruit qualified staff that are able to do substantive work in those jurisdictions – indeed the businesses in those jurisdictions are drafting documents to be filed in the BVI. They undertake substantive trust administration of BVI trusts, substantive mutual fund administration and NAV calculation for BVI funds and substantive corporate secretarial services for BVI companies.
Virtually everybody tries to do as little in the BVi as possible. Even the tourism industry outsources as much of its business - accountancy, marketing etc, out of the BVI.
The constant racist comments made on news blogs merely encourage people to live elsewhere.
We need the foreigners more than they need us – they can (and unfortunately do) move away and take their business with them. We have kidded ourselves for too long that the business belongs to the BVI.
How many serious financial service businesses are head quartered in the BVI – None!
How many of the tourism businesses with operations outside of the BVI, have their headquarters in the BVI - None!
How many of the big off shore law firms are head quartered in the BVI – None. Even Harneys, not exactly one of the big law offshore law firms, have as many staff as possible in Cayman, London and Hong Kong.
The present Government and senior civil servants talk a good talk, but the majority of civil servants (who do not seem to understand that they are the servants of the people, and who are rarely civil) continue to obstruct and be rude.
We have grown to rely on the huge sums pumped into the FSC, and then the Treasury, by financial services – however, the consequence of the way we have dealt with those coming to work in the BVI in those businesses is that the sums are getting smaller and smaller every year.
Now, we are putting the fees up (incorporation, renewal, work permits and trade licenses) to try and replace the income – however, the more likely result is that the increases will persuade business to go elsewhere.
I used to worry that many of the civil servants would never learn, but thought that the senior ones understood the big picture. I am not so sure any more.
This decision will merely speed up the day when Government runs out of funds to pay the generous salaries, and extraordinary unfunded pensions, of our civil servants and politicians.
Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!
The BVI ministers really believe that apart from tourism and financial services they really are self sufficient.
Just keep imposing taxes Add in-discriminately on expats and see where your economy will end up after business owners do not see profitability and shut their doors
Let see what will happen when apartment owners cannot pay the bank
Lets see what happens when the vehicles dealers reposes all the Hyundai that was sold
Lets see what happens when the hospitalized people don't pay their bills.
Lets see!!!!
You think people making $200K give a @#$&* about paying $10K for their permit? They just want to be able to live/work here, make money for their company and not have to wait in St Thomas 6 weeks then wait in line at labour and immigration for days on end when they could be working. Clueless people need to STFU.
Thanks in advance