SOURCE: POINTE XPRESS- The matter between the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and Sandals Resort and Spa heads to the High Court as the luxury resort is asking the court to order a new assessment of its tax liability.
The court action names Commissioner of IRD, Ralph Warner, who Sandals claims ignored a procedural requirement in the process of the latest assessment.
But Commissioner Warner said he views the court matter as an attempt by the resort to delay the process.
“Sandals is claiming that I, as IRD Commissioner, usurped the authority of the Income Tax Appeal Board when the assessment was done.”
The law provides that after an assessment, a company has 30 days to object to the assessment if for some reason the company is dissatisfied.
The appeal then goes to an Objections Officer. It is only if the client is dissatisfied with the ruling of the Objection Officer that the matter goes before the Board for adjudication and to court if the Board’s decision is also not to the client’s liking,” Warner explained.
He further explained that it is not the role of the Commissioner of IRD to take a matter to the Income Tax Appeal Board.
“That is the responsibility of the client if the decisions from the different stages, as laid down by the law, are not to the client’s liking; the board is part of the process established by the law to hear complaints from clients,” he stated.
According to Commissioner Warner the Tax Administration and Procedure Act gives IRD the authority to assess any business entity that operates in Antigua and Barbuda.
He said Sandals Resort had an agreement with the former administration that allowed them to keep a portion of the ABST that was collected by the resort.
“When this was brought to the attention of the current administration in 2016.
“The government decided to forego past amounts due to IRD and it arrived at an agreement with the resort that effective January 1, 2017, it will pay the full amount of ABST it collects on behalf of the government,” he recalled.
Warner noted that the resort adhered to the agreement ‘for a while’ but returned to making the deductions.
The current assessment amounts to approximately $27 million for the period 2017 to 2021. That amount includes $2.3 million for withholding tax. The assessment for 2022-23 is still being done.
Under the agreement with the previous administration, Warner said Sandals held onto as much as US$55.00 of every US$100.00 it collected on behalf of the government.
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