Cops probing disappearance of TPL tax files from GRA

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56518864
Stabroek News

Thursday, April 26th 2007

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) yesterday said the police force is probing the disappearance of files related to Toolsie Persaud Limited (TPL) from the Customs and Trade Administration on Main Street and it also says that the company owes hundreds of millions in c-tax, a charge TPL last evening denied. A GRA statement yesterday said the files related to TPL have disappeared from Customs House even as the company and Customs officials have ongoing engagements on tax payments. "In addition, according to GRA's information, Mr. [Toolsie] Persaud has been evading the payment of Consumption Tax on quarry sales and the related files have disappeared from the Customs and Trade Administration. It is reported that the sums of Consumption Tax owed (are) in the vicinity of hundreds of millions of dollars," the GRA said in a release. The GRA said too that the Police have been called in to investigate the disappearance of the files. According to the release, Toolsie Persaud Limited has been submitting bids for government contracts and even though the company is required to obtain a tender compliance it has significant outstanding Corporation Tax liability to the GRA. Speaking on the company's behalf last evening, lawyer Sanjeev Datadin said that it is unfair for the GRA to lose the company's sensitive financial documents given the crime situation in the country. He said that those documents, containing sensitive financial records for the company were not protected in the manner that they should have been and he is not satisfied that the GRA allowed such documents to be out in the public domain. Datadin said that the company has cooperated fully with the GRA on the ongoing matter in relation to the interpretation of the laws regarding the company's payment of taxes. "We will not provide any further information [to the GRA] until we receive a guarantee in writing that documents will be protected in the manner that they should," Datadin said. He said that the tax matter has been engaging the attention of the two parties for the past two years. The engagement centres on whether or not Toolsie Persaud Limited was required to pay Consumption tax for stone. Datadin said that there were clear statements from the GRA stating that Consumption Tax was not due and then later there were statements to the contrary. "We entered into discussions with the GRA to resolve the matter. We differ substantially on the interpretation of the laws from the GRA," he said. He added that the company will be approaching the High Court to seek redress on the interpretation of the laws. He said that it was unfair for the GRA to state that the company owes "hundreds of millions of dollars" in Consumption Tax when they have provided no proof of that. He called unfair too the GRA's making of the statements in the midst of the engagement with the company. As a result of the actions of the GRA, the Board of Toolsie Persaud Limited has consulted its lawyers regarding possible redress against the GRA. "We have no intention of avoiding our tax obligation," Datadin said. The GRA said that companies which are limited liability companies are required to file annual returns and pay taxes to the GRA. "The taxes are imposed on profits made by companies, commercial and non-commercial, as provided for by the Corporation Tax Act Ch. 80.03," the GRA said. The release further stated that Corporation tax is imposed on commercial companies at a rate of 45% or a minimum tax of 2% on the turnover in excess of $1.2M. Non-commercial companies pay tax at a flat rate of 35%. A commercial company is one where at least 75% of the gross income is derived from trading in goods not manufactured by the company, the GRA said.