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Tax court orders Jamaican MP to pay
2010-07-22 09:21:01 | (0 Comments)
Member of Parliament (MP) for north Trelawny in Jamaica, Dr Patrick Harris, has been ordered by the Tax Court to immediately pay $1.6 million, or be sent to prison for 30 days.
The order was made by Resident Magistrate Sheron Barnes in the Tax Court at Falmouth in Trelawny yesterday.
Dr Harris was served to appear in the Tax Court, but he did not appear and had no legal representation.
Tax collector, Janet Scotland, told RM Barnes that the MP had sufficient time to make arrangements to pay the outstanding sum, but failed to do so.
RM Barnes then made the order based on the disclosures made by Scotland.
The tax department has launched a massive drive to collect outstanding revenue from delinquent taxpayers.
Earlier this year, the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]finance[/COLOR][/COLOR] minister, Audley Shaw, announced in Parliament that the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]government[/COLOR][/COLOR] would not be relenting in its effort to collect taxes.
A senior lawyer explained that a parliamentarian cannot be barred from sitting in parliament, because he owes taxes, as it’s not considered a criminal offence.
However, he said there could be serious implications if a parliamentarian is unable to [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]pay [COLOR=blue! important]taxes[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
The lawyer further explained that an MP can be declared bankrupt if he owes taxes and under the law could be barred from serving as a Member of Parliament.
Source: Gleaner/Power 106 News
2010-07-22 09:21:01 | (0 Comments)
Member of Parliament (MP) for north Trelawny in Jamaica, Dr Patrick Harris, has been ordered by the Tax Court to immediately pay $1.6 million, or be sent to prison for 30 days.
The order was made by Resident Magistrate Sheron Barnes in the Tax Court at Falmouth in Trelawny yesterday.
Dr Harris was served to appear in the Tax Court, but he did not appear and had no legal representation.
Tax collector, Janet Scotland, told RM Barnes that the MP had sufficient time to make arrangements to pay the outstanding sum, but failed to do so.
RM Barnes then made the order based on the disclosures made by Scotland.
The tax department has launched a massive drive to collect outstanding revenue from delinquent taxpayers.
Earlier this year, the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]finance[/COLOR][/COLOR] minister, Audley Shaw, announced in Parliament that the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]government[/COLOR][/COLOR] would not be relenting in its effort to collect taxes.
A senior lawyer explained that a parliamentarian cannot be barred from sitting in parliament, because he owes taxes, as it’s not considered a criminal offence.
However, he said there could be serious implications if a parliamentarian is unable to [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]pay [COLOR=blue! important]taxes[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
The lawyer further explained that an MP can be declared bankrupt if he owes taxes and under the law could be barred from serving as a Member of Parliament.
Source: Gleaner/Power 106 News
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