Over the past 30 years one of the most outstanding aspects of corporate law in Trinidad and Tobago has been the continuing failure of successive governments to either appreciate or acknowledge that there is a distinction between State Enterprises which are companies incorporated under the Companies Act as opposed to State Enterprises which are Statutory Corporations established by an Act of Parliament.
Bank of Nova Scotia Wins in the Privy Council
The Bank of Nova Scotia prevailed in the Privy Council when the Board dismissed the Appeal by the Government of Grenada against the decision of the Court of Appeal of Grenada.
It will be recalled that the case involved a dispute as to whether withholding tax was payable on payments made by the Grenadian branch of the bank to its head office in Canada by way of reimbursement of expenses.
This is a publication which will be disseminated quarterly among professionals involved in the practice of income tax in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The purpose of the Caribbean Tax Law Update (“CTLU”) is to discuss recent decisions and legislative changes which impact on the administration and the practice of tax law in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
On 20th July, 2015 the Tax Appeal Board delivered it decision in Sagicor General Insurance Inc v The Board of Inland Revenue. That appeal raised the important and novel issue of the right of taxpayers and the duties of the Board of Inland Revenue (“BIR”) where the Taxpayer discovers an error or mistake in an original Tax Return which formed the basis of an assessment by the BIR. That issue had never been considered before by a Tax Court in the Caribbean.
Over the past 4 months there has been a fairly intense debate, both here and in the wider Caribbean, on whether the Caribbean Court of Justice (“CCJ”) should replace the Privy Council (“PC”) as the apex Court of Appeal for Trinidad and Tobago and countries of the Caribbean.
Multinational corporations operating in the Caribbean have an enduring concern and exposure to withholding tax arising from the provision of technical and support services to their subsidiaries in that region.