Shop owners in Bermuda will not get any kind of tax relief in the foreseeable future, according to Minister of Finance Eugene Cox.

Retailers had been hoping for a tax break in Friday's Budget and that the Government would come good on its election promise to make Bermuda a duty free shopping area.

But they received no such cuts and said their overheads would increase as a result of taxes on fuel and vehicles.

After a Budget breakfast briefing for the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, when asked by The Royal Gazette if retailers would get duty free shopping, Mr. Cox said: "I don't think that is on the cards for the future.'' During the Budget briefing he was not asked a single question by the 100 members of the Chamber of Commerce attending the meeting.

But when interviewed afterwards about the woes of the retail sector, he added: "We are not in a place to review all the duty.'' He said that last year budget changes in local taxes had given retailers a break of $900,000, and Government could not grant any more at this time.

"We certainly can't review the amount of duty paid at this time,'' he said, adding: "We have to get the cash from somewhere.'' Mr. Cox said that retailers that depended on visitors would see a turn around in fortunes as soon as tourism numbers went up again.

And he added that building projects at the Marriott and the Rosedon Hotel would boost tourist numbers and lead to more customers for the shops.

"Once we get the tourists back, the long term demands of the retail sector will be met,'' he said.

On Friday struggling shopkeepers said they were "very disappointed'' at the lack of provision for them in the Budget.

They said that the Budget would lead to a rise in costs and still had not addressed the Progressive Labour Party's election promise of a duty free Bermuda.

The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce said: "We anticipate that the business community will have more to say about the impact of increases in the air passenger tax, fuel and alcohol duties and motor vehicle licenses. For our members in the Visitor Retail Division, the absence of any relief measures for their sector in this year's Budget will have come as a most unwelcome surprise.'' The statement went on to say that despite undeniable woes in tourism and retail, the economy in general was buoyant.

Charles Gosling, the acting chairman of the Visitor Retail Division of the Chamber of Commerce said on Friday: "We are very disappointed at the Budget.

It is a nibbling away of our business by increasing the costs.'' He said that the increase in taxes on fuel, cars and motorbikes would add to the cost of running a business on the Island.

He added: "I don't see how they can go on nibbling away at us like this and expect us to remain in business much longer.'' Mr. Gosling said that he and members of the Visitor Retail Division and some other local heads of business had come together to listen to the Budget on the radio.

"The overall reaction was disappointment,'' he said.

Last year and the year before the retail sector had said it had been disappointed by the PLP budgets, particularly because there was no commitment to duty-free shopping or duty cuts.

Mr. Gosling said: "We had hoped at a minimum there would have been a review of the duty structure, especially in tourist-related items such as clothing, jewellery, perfume, etc. We hoped they would take a step towards the promise they made to voters before the last election to introduce duty free shopping to Bermuda.'' Retailers believe that if the Island is made duty free, it will make Bermuda a prime shopping destination for tourists.

And they say that it would slash local prices and lead to increases in staff wages.

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