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CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
With an established history of dealing with land and building taxes and stamp duty, the Tax Appeal Board says it is ready and willing to adjudicate Property Tax matters when that time comes.
However, as it stands now, the Board is needs more government funding. It notes that the cases which come before it often have multi-million dollar settlements, yet the Court received less than ten million dollars in the 2024 Budget. Rynessa Cutting attended the Board's ceremonial opening today.
Transcript
00:00 The Tax Appeal Board adjudicates a wide range of tax complaints and appeals.
00:06 And its chairman anticipates that the board will soon have more cases coming before it.
00:11 With the establishment of an inferior tribunal to deal with valuation of property on which the percentage rental value will be based,
00:18 that may be the first port of call and against those decisions you can take the matter to the High Court.
00:23 But in terms of the tax assessment raised against somebody's property, so if it's not self-declared for example,
00:31 I believe that those are a line of cases that are likely to come here and so on.
00:36 So it remains to be seen what will eventually happen.
00:38 I mean I think the latest pronouncement is that the property tax may come in maybe in about a year's time or so.
00:44 So, you know, a year is a long time, so it remains to be seen what is going to happen in that time.
00:49 Certainly we are ready and willing.
00:50 The board was granted a $9.9 million in funding for fiscal 2024.
00:56 But according to its chairman, that figure does not reflect the value of the court's output,
01:02 which he says impacts on roughly half the state's revenues.
01:07 The kind of money that is being generated from some of these cases is just from the energy sector,
01:13 let alone from income tax, corporation tax and so on, is probably about over 50% at the moment.
01:20 So the work of this court is absolutely critical,
01:23 especially when we see that the powers that be and so on are looking to enhance collection of revenue.
01:31 Outside of the energy sector, the chairman says many of the cases before it are customs and excise issues,
01:38 as well as issues relating to the non-payment of VAT refunds.
01:42 Finance Minister Colm Imbod recently announced that government is considering waiving VAT for the energy industry
01:49 to help the state pay VAT returns to SMEs.
01:52 There have been a lot of complaints by appellants who brought matters before us
01:57 that they do have some delay in receiving VAT refunds.
02:01 And the other challenge that is often, you know, seen is the question of the posting of the relevant funds or bond
02:09 to be able to pursue their appeal.
02:12 So some people have seen that as a bit of an obstacle, but that is what the law says.
02:16 So there is a discretion on the part of the Board of Revenue to waive that requirement.
02:21 The chairman also laments inordinate delays in the system,
02:25 as the legislation allows for assessments to be raised within a six-year period of a given tax year.
02:31 He's lobbying for urgent reform.
02:34 What we see here is that attorneys sometimes seek, sometimes maybe for reasons beyond their control,
02:39 adjournment after adjournment, and then beyond that if there is a further appeal.
02:43 So you're looking at maybe a good 10-year period elapsing sometimes,
02:47 which I think is not really acceptable in any tax system.
02:51 And I think that is definitely something to be looked at.
02:53 Whether the Revenue Authority is considering addressing that, I don't know.
02:57 I mean, we can only work with what we are given and so on.
03:00 But I do think that something needs to be done to expedite matters.
03:03 Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
03:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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