TCI: Amnesty offer good news for 41 resorts and restaurants, Major money break to businesses

#Providenciales, March 6, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – Three amendments are passed in the House of Assembly and 41 companies stand to benefit from an Amnesty and so does TCIG, according to the Minister of Finance and Premier, Sharlene Robinson.

“This amnesty applies to three different scenarios; businesses that have collected taxes and have not remitted it, Beaches that had an agreement from 1997 to pay on 60 percent and I say agreement, because while I have not seen it written, it was an agreement where we were receiving it and they were paying it, they were audited on 100 percent and that is why we are here.  Club Med I should say to you had a development agreement, they were paying 40 percent, that has since expired and they too were assessed on 100 percent.  We are not writing off principles, an amnesty is for those who apply for it, I’ve said to you what the principle amount is if the persons were to take advantage of it in the 30 days and then of course there is a sliding scale and there are steps that must be taken by those who want to take advantage of this amnesty.  It is a clean-up exercise.”

The Amnesty, shared the Premier does not apply to principal but to the penalties levelled against all-inclusive resort, namely Beaches Turks and Caicos, which claimed to be overcharged by the Revenue Control Unit of Ministry of Finance.

“In a perfect world, if everyone pays within the first month and if we have full 100 percent of arrears paid in principle, we would have $29.6m.  But everyone of the 41 businesses will not do that,” said the premier last night in response to concern from the Opposition Leader and Member for the Bight.

During the vote on the Hotel & Restaurant Tourism Taxation Amnesty – there was full support from PDM members but an abstention by the Opposition side.

The Premier expressed that the PDM Administration without regret would support any amnesty which allows business in the Turks and Caicos Islands to progress, adding in her wrap up on Monday night that the Revenue Unit will be collecting all of what is owed in principal to the TCI.   

“We have 15 that have paid the entire principle amount, 19 that have made no payments, seven that have been referred to the Attorney General but Beaches and Club Med collectively account for 96 percent.”

The companies on the list to benefit from the Amnesty will now have to apply for the ‘write off’ of interest and other penalty charges.  Each will have 30 days to pay their debt to government or face new penalties for breach of the amnesty.

Locally owned companies also stand to benefit from the Amnesty, although Beaches Resort and its announcement of indefinite closure has grabbed the most spotlight in this matter which has gone unresolved for years.    

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