Talks between the Government and international business over a global minimum tax are moving forward “calmly” with no signs of “distress”, according to Marico Thomas, the president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Bermuda is set to start taxing multinational corporations with more than €750 million of global annual revenue from 2025 as a plan for a minimum global tax kicks in, led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In 2021, some 135 countries and territories agreed to the initiative, although implementation of a global tax is facing political resistance in the United States.

“We believe that everyone is calmly moving forward so we are not really hearing any distress, which is great news for us and the country. That means that we should not expect because of this change that the IB sector is going to run away. They wish to stay.”

But Mr Thomas warned: “We still need to cause ourselves to be a place where they wish to be, so as a community, as a government and as an island we still have to be open and welcoming and also competitive.”

Asked if he thought international business would seek to get carve outs such as lowering their payroll tax, Mr Thomas added: “I would say that it is pretty clear that Bermuda would like to have this work and IB would like to have this work and that they are working really hard to find the best way for it to work to everyone’s advantage.”

Danielle Riviere, the chamber’s chief executive, said that the conversations happening in Bermuda were happening around the world but “the right people are at the table so these conversations are happening with those people who will make sure that it is a structure that works for both businesses and for government and for locals”.

She added: “It will be interesting to watch and see how they manage through this but for us, as we sit in a space with local businesses and some IB businesses, the conversations are positive and for us that is great because it means they are not worried like some of us on the outside not involved in those conversations, who are saying ‘what direction can this go?’.”

In a recent statement, David Burt, the Premier and finance minister, said that although the global tax regime could present an opportunity to increase income, it was not government policy to significantly increase overall revenue.

“This change in global taxation should allow for the reduction of existing taxes that, by their very nature, increase the cost of living and the cost of doing business,” Mr Burt said.

“For example, additional revenues will likely allow for the reduction or possible elimination of some existing government taxes and customs duties.”

Asked what might happen if those subject to the tax made losses, Mr Thomas said: “There are factors outside Bermuda that could change the revenue we could receive from global tax and therefore the benefit it could provide to society.

“There’s got to be some smoothing mechanism that the actuaries can put inside there that would also benefit the people of Bermuda.”

On lowering taxes rather than paying off the island’s multibillion-dollar debt, Ms Riviere added: “We know that the debt is something government is consistently looking at. They are fully aware, fully conscious of it and want to pay it off so we would have to assume that is at the forefront of their conversations. But they also have a responsibility to the people, so it will be a balancing act for them.”