Key Takeaways
- Stamp Duty in Bermuda applies to a defined range of dutiable instruments, including real estate conveyances, leases, mortgages and certain share transfers.
- Exempted company share transfers are treated differently from local company transfers, and an international businesses relief exemption can affect foreign investors.
- Reliefs exist for categories such as first-time buyers, charities, vessels and aircraft, while adjudication, stamping and payment follow set deadlines and procedures.
- Non-resident readers should track recent reforms and the outlook, as these shape how stamp duty obligations apply to their Bermuda transactions.
Understanding Stamp Duty in Bermuda: The Stamp Duties Act 1976
Stamp duty in Bermuda is a tax on documents, called "instruments" in the governing law, rather than a tax on income or profits. The jurisdiction levies no income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, capital transfer tax, or inheritance tax, which makes document-level duty one of its principal fiscal tools alongside customs charges. The framework sits within the Stamp Duties Act 1976, cited as 1976:14 and amended several times, most recently by the Stamp Duties Amendment Act 2023.
Any instrument signed in, or brought into, the territory is potentially chargeable unless a specific exemption applies. Rates differ by the type of document and its value, and Parliament revises them periodically.
This article sets out which documents attract duty, the rates on property and other instruments, the exemptions that matter to foreign-owned structures, and the procedure for stamping and adjudication. It is written for non-resident investors, business owners, and their advisers weighing whether the duty affects an entity or transaction connected to the island.
Dutiable Instruments: Which Documents and Transactions Attract Stamp Duty
The Act defines "instrument" broadly, to include every written document. Common chargeable instruments include conveyances, mortgages, reconveyances that release a mortgage, voluntary conveyances, insurance premium receipts, and affidavits.
A routine retail purchase carries no duty because no instrument exists; title passes by delivery alone. Where a transaction does generate paperwork, each instrument is separately chargeable even if all relate to the same subject matter.
A house purchase illustrates the point. A sale and purchase agreement, a deed of conveyance, and a mortgage deed may each be stampable in their own right.
Three categories of instrument fall within charge: those listed in the Schedule and executed locally after 31 March 1976; bills of exchange or promissory notes drawn abroad after that date and then negotiated, paid, or endorsed on the island; and other scheduled instruments executed abroad after that date and subsequently brought in.
Liability is not limited to one party. All executing parties are jointly and severally liable for the correct duty, and any indemnity clause within the instrument does not displace that statutory liability.
An instrument that is liable but unstamped is generally inadmissible in court, leaving the underlying agreement unenforceable. Bermuda has not adopted e-stamping; a physical revenue stamp must be affixed, purchased from the relevant government office.
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Stamp Duty on Bermuda Real Estate Conveyances: The Sliding-Scale Rates
Acquiring real property on the island triggers duty to effect the conveyance. The charge applies to houses, condominiums, apartments, other buildings, and undeveloped land alike.
Gifts and swaps are not outside the net. Where no cash changes hands, duty is still assessed on the market value of the property transferred.
Duty on a sale follows a progressive scale tied to the price. The table below sets out the bands that apply to a conveyance on sale.
| Portion of sale price (BDA $) | Rate |
|---|---|
| First 100,000 | 2% |
| Next 400,000 | 3% |
| Next 500,000 | 4% |
| 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 | 6% |
| Over 1,500,000 | 7% |
At the upper end this works out to $64,000 plus 7% of any amount above $1.5 million. A lifetime gift of real estate (a voluntary conveyance) runs on a slightly higher scale, beginning at 2.5% on the first $100,000 and reaching 7.35% on value above $1.5 million.
By convention the duty on a sale is split equally between buyer and seller, though the parties may negotiate a different division. Payment falls due on the day of completion and forms part of the closing costs.
Stamp Duty on Leases, Mortgages and Other Instruments
Rental leases are chargeable, with the duty set on a progressive scale geared to the gross monthly rent. Standard practice affixes the stamps to the landlord's original; a duplicate stamp for the tenant's copy costs an additional $25.
Mortgage refinancing carries relief introduced in 2023. Where a homeowner moves a mortgage of $1,000,000 or less to another financial institution without increasing the sum borrowed, no duty is payable; above that figure, the first $1,000,000 escapes duty and only the excess is charged, at one half of one percent.
Several other instruments attract fixed or reduced charges:
- Transfers between estranged spouses, if compliant, carry duty of just $200 plus the Tax Commissioner's fee.
- A settlement of Bermuda property into trust attracts $250, with up to B$50,000 of the value settled exempt.
- A voluntary transfer of non-Bermudian property is charged at 1% of value.
The affidavit of value used in probate runs on its own scale: nil on the first $100,000, then rising through 5.25%, 10.5%, and 15.75% bands to 21% on value above $3 million.
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Stamp Duty on Share Transfers: Local Companies vs. Exempted Companies
Companies on the register fall into three classes: local, exempted, and permit. International businesses are almost always set up as exempted companies or partnerships.
Share transfers in exempted companies, publicly listed local companies, and foreign companies are exempt from duty. Because foreign owners typically incorporate as exempted entities, the duty rarely touches their share dealings.
The position differs for unlisted local company shares. These rank as "Bermuda property," and transfers of them can attract duty in the same way as other domestic assets.
Wills sit entirely outside the regime. No stamp duty applies to a will, regardless of the estate's value.
The International Businesses Relief Exemption and What It Means for Investors
The Stamp Duties (International Businesses Relief) Act 1990 removes duty from instruments to which an international business is a party. Read alongside the principal Act, it produces a wide set of exemptions, some covering whole classes of entity or transaction and others targeting specific chargeable Heads.
For a non-resident investor, the practical result is that an exempted company conducting business outside the island typically incurs no stamp duty on its instruments. Such entities, classified as exempted undertakings, routinely obtain Tax Assurance Certificates.
A Tax Assurance Certificate is a written assurance from the Minister of Finance that the holder will not be subject to any newly introduced income, profits, capital gains, or wealth tax before 31 March 2035. The certificate concerns those taxes, not stamp duty, but it reflects the same broadly tax-neutral footing that exempted companies expect.
For the international private client, the duty is therefore of minimal effect in most arrangements.
The Corporate Income Tax Act 2023, operative 1 January 2025, applies despite any Tax Assurance Certificate already issued, but it is a distinct measure. The stamp duty relief under the IBR Act is unaffected by it.
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Key Exemptions and Reliefs: First-Time Buyers, Charities, Vessels and Aircraft
The most significant relief for resident purchasers covers first-time buyers, and the 2023 amendments widened it. The exemption cap rose to the first BD$1 million of consideration, up from BD$750,000, so a buyer paying $1.5 million for a home is charged only on the remaining $500,000.
Two further changes accompanied that increase. The earlier rule requiring a first-time buyer to occupy the property for three years was removed, leaving the owner free to let or sell it, and a pre-approval procedure now lets a buyer secure the relief in advance rather than paying duty upfront and reclaiming it.
Eligibility historically turned on Bermudian status, residential or vacant-land use, and genuine first-time ownership, meaning no prior interest in residential property greater than 25% of its market value. Those status criteria continue in amended form. Full conditions are set out on the government's stamp duty relief page.
Charitable transfers also benefit. A transfer of non-Bermudian property to a charitable trust is exempt, and a transfer of Bermudian property is exempt where the trust is registered as a charity or its purposes are accepted by the Minister of Finance as charitable; bequests to registered charities are likewise excluded from the affidavit-of-value assessment.
Vessels and aircraft are carved out under section 4 of the Act. Any instrument disposing of a vessel, aircraft, or aircraft engine, including one under construction, or the rights under a construction agreement, is exempt, whether the disposal is outright or by way of mortgage.
Two domestic concessions complete the picture. A deceased's interest in a property designated as the family homestead is excluded from the affidavit-of-value assessment, and property in a registered pension trust fund (other than land) is exempt under the relevant Heads.
Adjudication, Stamping and Payment: Deadlines and Procedure
Most instruments must be stamped within 30 days of execution by all parties. A document executed abroad becomes stampable within 30 days of arriving on the island, while an affidavit of value of a deceased's estate allows 90 days.
Payment is evidenced by affixing revenue stamps of the required value to the instrument and any counterparts, then cancelling them by writing in the initials of the person affixing them. Duty is paid to the Accountant General by cheque or cash.
Where a party is unsure whether duty applies or in what amount, the Tax Commissioner can adjudicate on application. A government fee applies for this service, in addition to any duty assessed, and that fee tends to rise each year.
- The Act bars splitting a transaction into more instruments than ordinarily necessary in order to cut the total duty.
The Tax Commissioner may grant special permission for late stamping where conditions are met. An appeal against an adjudication lies to the Supreme Court within 14 days, but the disputed duty must be paid before the appeal proceeds. Practitioners have reported delays in adjudications, with the Office of the Tax Commissioner working to clear the backlog.
Recent Reforms and the Outlook for Bermuda Stamp Duty
The Stamp Duties Amendment Act 2023 reshaped the regime from 1 April 2023. It raised the first-time-buyer exemption cap to BD$1 million and increased rates across several categories by 5%, with the stated aim of helping new buyers and improving fairness.
The same reform created mortgage transfer relief, abolished the three-year occupancy condition, and introduced the pre-approval mechanism described earlier. Together these measures sharpened the duty as an instrument of housing policy as much as revenue.
A wider shift in fiscal architecture sits in the background. The Corporate Income Tax Act 2023 took effect on 1 January 2025 in response to the OECD global minimum tax rules, and regulatory responsibility for the economic substance regime has moved to the Corporate Income Tax Agency. Neither change alters stamp duty, but both signal a maturing tax system around it.
No further stamp duty rate changes have been announced beyond the 2023 package. The governing approach treats the duty as a targeted revenue and social-policy tool, with rates open to periodic parliamentary revision.
Conclusion
Stamp duty in Bermuda is narrow enough in scope that most non-resident business owners using an exempted structure will encounter it only at the edges, chiefly when a transaction touches real property or involves instruments outside the exempted-company framework. The single question worth resolving before any transaction closes is whether the specific instrument being executed qualifies for the international businesses relief exemption, because that determination, not the headline rates, is what separates a straightforward filing from an unexpected liability.
Recent reforms signal that the rules are being actively revisited, so relying on older compliance assumptions carries real risk. Confirming current adjudication deadlines and any post-reform changes to exemption eligibility, before the instrument is executed rather than after, is the one step that protects the position of any foreign owner transacting in Bermuda today.
How Expanship Can Help Your Business in Bermuda
Expanship advises foreign owners on where stamp duty bites and where the International Businesses Relief exemption removes it, so an exempted company or partnership is structured to keep document-level duty to a minimum, and that advice connects to the wider set of services a non-resident entity needs on the island.
- Company formation, including exempted company and partnership structures
- Registered agent and registered office services
- Tax registration and filing support
- Ongoing compliance and statutory maintenance
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Introductions to banking partners
To discuss your structure or a specific instrument, contact Expanship Bermuda.
Frequently Asked Questions
In most cases it does not. Under the International Businesses Relief Act 1990, instruments to which an international business is a party are exempt, and exempted companies and partnerships fall within that relief, so share transfers and ordinary commercial documents typically carry no duty.
Conveyance duty follows a progressive scale from 2% on the first BDA $100,000 up to 7% on value above BDA $1.5 million. At the top band the charge equals $64,000 plus 7% of the excess over $1.5 million, and the duty is usually shared equally between buyer and seller at completion.
Transfers of shares in exempted companies, publicly listed local companies, and foreign companies are exempt. Shares in non-listed local companies are treated as Bermuda property, and transfers of them can attract duty.
The standard window is 30 days from execution by all parties. An instrument signed abroad must be stamped within 30 days of arriving on the island, and an affidavit of value for a deceased's estate allows 90 days.
No. The territory has not adopted e-stamping, so a physical revenue stamp must be affixed to the instrument and cancelled, with payment made to the Accountant General by cheque or cash.
The Stamp Duties Amendment Act 2023 raised the exemption cap to the first BD$1 million of consideration, removed the three-year occupancy requirement, and added a pre-approval procedure so the duty need not be paid upfront. A first-time buyer purchasing above $1 million still claims relief on the first $1 million and pays duty only on the balance.
Legal Disclaimer
The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, laws and regulations are subject to change, and the application of laws can vary widely based on specific facts and circumstances.
Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel tailored to their individual situation. Expanship and its authors disclaim any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the content of this article.
For specific advice regarding your business setup, compliance requirements, or any legal matters, please consult with qualified legal and tax professionals in the relevant jurisdiction.
