Petition Calls To Revoke Vacation Rental Fee

March 31, 2023

An online petition has been launched calling for the revocation of the 2023 vacation rental licensing fee legislation.

The petition says, “There is a prevailing notion that Bermuda vacation rental hosting is a lucrative business. The fact is, for the majority it is not. It is comprised primarily of older property owners who are attempting to defray the cost maintaining their properties on limited pension incomes. The money earned from vacation rentals is not making them rich or supporting lavish lifestyles.

“The competition in the Bermuda vacation rental market is not with other local vacation rentals, it is with the global vacations rental market in other places where travelers can rent similar size units with same amenities [linens, toiletries, complimentary items] for about half the cost of a vacation rental unit in Bermuda.

“If the Bermuda Government is seeking revenue it should consider increasing the existing vacation rental tax by .5 percent.”

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Comments (53)

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  1. Graham says:

    Let’s be honest, there’s no way the government will ease up on this. If you have a second home, or room and means to rent a place, there is no way you are voting for the PLP. The government know that and all they care about is staying in power.

    The is is a highly divisive government free of common sense, but we keep voting them in. I have no idea why.

    • Joe Bloggs says:

      “The is is a highly divisive government free of common sense, but we keep voting them in. I have no idea why.”

      Because the PLP media advisors are better than the OBA media advisors and the whole of the OBA has been branded as a UBP makeover. It does not matter that the UBP did NOT change its name to OBA. That is the PLP campaign and it seems to have worked.

      • Facts says:

        The ubp is the oba. Get over it and stop running from the past just for votes. Black voters departed from the ubp and thus the very reason you decided for a change in name.

        • X oba member says:

          I hear the next election the OBA is running Mr. Jarion Richardson over Mr. Scott Pearman as they look for another magical John Swan LEADER!

          • St David's says:

            Hopefully Jarrion is smarter and dumps the oba circus for a new party that doesn’t use people like him.

            • Tucker says:

              LOL, the PLP uses the electorate for their own personal gain.
              Good thing the majority is so poorly educated. LOL

        • Toodle-oo says:

          I wish we could go back to the past where we had a stable and growing economy , jobs aplenty , lower taxes , no weekly murders , no mayhem on the smoothly paved roads and no $6bn of debt.
          Back in them days people weren’t fleeing this island because of a totally inept government , regardless of what name it went by .
          You can’t stand the failure ,can you ?

          • saud says:

            Bermudians voted for the opposite of what you want.
            Bermudians want to be able to legally discriminate…I’m not sure why they want to live in poverty though.

        • Sandgrownan says:

          Keep going with the lie, it’s all you have left.

          20+ years of failure and disappointment.

        • Question says:

          And yet the current PLP Minister of Transport and the PLP MP for St G west are both ex-Leaders of the UBP. Not to mention the PLP MP for Sandys south, who was UBP Head of Public Relations and a UBP MP.

          It should be called the PLPUBP. The PLP is the UBP.

          • LOL says:

            You forgot the add = they’re black former members that departed when all the other black members departed. Which left the UBP no other option but a rebrand/name change = OBA. (:

            • Joe Bloggs says:

              “You forgot the add = they’re black former members that departed when all the other black members departed.”

              Actually, the last members of the UBP were black. It was the white members (and a lot of black members too) that went to the BDA and changed it into the OBA we have today.

              “Which left the UBP no other option but a rebrand/name change = OBA”

              That is not what happened, but don’t let the truth get in the way of the big lie.

          • Joe Bloggs says:

            “And yet the current PLP Minister of Transport …”

            Oh, it gets better. The current PLP Minister of Transport was Minister for Transport under the UBP Government in the 1990s

      • Tucker says:

        The OBA could never win.
        Bermudians vote on skin colour, nothing else.
        The majority voted for discrimination against the LGBT community, and the majority electorate has voted for poverty as well.
        They’re getting what they want.

        LMFAO

        • Come Correct says:

          The OBAUBP will never win because a major part of the party is simply racist and full of hate for anyone that oppose them or has left the party. So why would I cast a vote to the OBAUBP?

          • saud says:

            You could say the same about the PLP.
            Racist, homophobic and xenophobic….and driving Bermuda into poverty.

          • sandgrownan says:

            Is that really true, you have evidence of that? Or are you simply parroting the talking point?

            Tell you what, give two…actually, give me one racist action or statement made by the OBA. I’ll wait.

            • sandgrownan says:

              As expected. Crickets.

            • LOL (original) says:

              You do more damage to the OBA by even mentioning you support them. After all the garbage on covid.

              Just leave politics none of the Bermudians whom votes that the OBA needs would vote for who you vote knowing the type of policies you support.

              LOL

              • Toodle-oo says:

                Complains about benign comments made by an anonymous poster but how about the actual damage done by this inept government ?
                Does that actually encourage support and loyalty ?

          • Question says:

            And another story today of a $1.7m contract awarded to a ‘software company’ that delivered absolutely nothing. That’s the type of repeated incompetence (at best), costing us millions, you seem to have no problem voting for. I use the word ‘incompetence’ but the word ‘corruption’ might be more appropriate. Millions going to mysterious ‘contracts’.

        • Take my advice says:

          Who would vote for the worst opposition in history. It’s actually sad to see how the mighty UBP has fallen. Only a fool would run as the next leader.

          • Joe Bloggs says:

            There is no UBP and there has not been for over a decade.

            The racism and hatred must be coming from somewhere else.

          • saud says:

            You don’t seem to know how this works, seems many of you are in the same boat, you don’t understand finance either.
            You don’t vote for the opposition, you vote for the one you want to win.

  2. Paul says:

    This is a small island. Question how high do you want to go? And another thing some owner do not want to rent to there island people. The cost of Living is high Yes. I’m a small bussiness owner and I can say the over head to maintain a business is high. Rent to your people and stop been greedy.

  3. Hmmm says:

    Stop crying doesn’t the obaUBP have a few remaining surrogates ?

  4. sandgrownan says:

    I don’t rent to Bermudians. It’s not worth the grief and the holier than though attitude.

    • Joe Bloggs says:

      “I don’t rent to Bermudians”

      That is discrimination under the Human Rights Act.

      • saud says:

        …just go to the Privy council and change it.

        Bermuda does not have a stellar record when it comes to human rights.

      • sandgrownan says:

        Is that more or less discriminatory than renting to gay couples?

        • Joe Bloggs says:

          Landlords are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Only the PLP Government is allowed that privilege.

          • sandgrownan says:

            Ah…but they do. All the time, while clutching their bibles.

          • Come Correct says:

            Don’t forget the OBA didn’t pass any law regarding the same with gay couples when GOV. Bunch of spineless punks afraid to even organize a march. The PLP walk all over them even when wrong. The entire party needs to flush down a toilet.

            • Joe Bloggs says:

              “Don’t forget the OBA didn’t pass any law regarding the same with gay couples …”

              Not specifically, but the Human Rights Amendment Act 2013 prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

              So whilst the OBA did not pass any law to protect gay “couples”, it did pass a law protecting every gay “person” from discrimination

            • Toodle-oo says:

              Duuh . The OBA didn’t have to change or support anything as the law under the constitution as it existed actually allowed same sex marriage. It was the PLP who changed the HR act making it unlawful .
              By not taking a side , as such , the OBA was exercising political expediency.
              Please get up to speed .

            • saud says:

              Don’t forget, the PLP spent half a million dollars on the Privy council, in order to legally discriminate against a very small section of society. The party actually removed already won rights, for no reason other than the fact that the party, and the majority electorate, don’t like gay people. They’re bigots and hypocrites.

              • Joe Bloggs says:

                “the majority electorate, don’t like gay people”

                I do not believe that to be true. I believe that there is a vocal minority who view being gay as evil. And the PLP cater to that vocal minority for political reasons.

                • saud says:

                  …I guess it’s too bad that Bermudians don’t have the right to vote.

                • Facts says:

                  You’re a fool. The plp informed their voters before the last election. No to SSM and won 30-6. The oba being the cowards that they continue to be didnt support SSM when they ruled Bermuda as government.

                  • Joe Bloggs says:

                    “The oba being the cowards that they continue to be didnt support SSM when they ruled Bermuda as government”

                    What does that mean please? Are you saying that the OBA did something to thwart same sex marriage in Bermuda?

                    • JAWS says:

                      The OBA didn’t support the LGBT community when they were the ruling party. They flipflop on their homophobic, racist and bad politics toward couples of the same sex after they lost the election. The party needs to split in half after they lose again at the next election. Jarion I hope you’re listening my friend.

                  • Truth says:

                    LOL. You too, are a fool.

                    You, once again, are proudly admitting that you are a bigot. You’re homophobic, and most likely racist.
                    Why are you so proud of that?

                    • Joe Bloggs says:

                      Well, that would come as a considerable surprise to anyone who knows me.

                      On what basis do you say I have made such an admission?

                    • Truth says:

                      Joe, I’m not responding to you.
                      Learn about nested quotes. You have a problem with Bernews format, not me.

                    • Joe Bloggs says:

                      You call me a bigot and homophobic and when called out you say “I’m not responding to you”

                      Typical coward.

                    • Truth says:

                      Joe, once again, my response was not to you. It was directed to “Facts”, not you. Understand?

  5. saud says:

    Funny, when the PLP are called out for promoting division by begging the Privy council to allow them to discriminate, and at a cost of over half a million tax dollars…their proponents mention the OBA, for some weird reason.
    Why does the OBA take up so much space in your heads?

    • Joe Bloggs says:

      Because there is plenty of space available?

      • saud says:

        “Because there is plenty of space available?”

        This must be it. A product of Bermuda’s educational system. LOL

    • Bobs my uncle says:

      The only space the obaubpers takes up is on toilet paper. Why do even waste time blogging when you already know the party will never win again. Don’t worry next election you can flipflop to the next political party they make to distance themselves again and again LMAO!

      • saud says:

        Oh, I should have told you. I don’t live in your debt ridden, racist little hole. LMFAO

      • Hmm says:

        So true and funny. The party is in bad shape. Can’t fix stupid which is why they keep running out of surrogates to front for them.