– chairman of Banks DIH tells AGM

BANKS DIH is sticking to its position that it should benefit from a reassessment of the consumption taxes which are paid to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Chairman and Managing-Director Clifford Reis said as he made the company’s position clear.
Banks DIH is suing GRA for over $28B for the reported overpayment of consumption taxes. According to the indigenous beverage company, it paid $12.8B in consumption taxes between 2001 and 2006, when it should have paid less than $4B, resulting in an overpayment of $9.09B.

Banks DIH is contending that the more than $9B overpayment was made because of a mistake in the law, based on a Court of Appeal judgment on July 31, 2008, in relation to a High Court motion brought by another beverage company –- Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) against GRA. Last year, DDL reached an amicable settlement with GRA after a 14-year tax dispute.

However, GRA, in a statement on Wednesday, said it is prepared to “vigorously contest” the lawsuit filed by Banks DIH and “looks forward to a thorough ventilation of the issues in a court of law.”
Addressing shareholders during Banks DIH’s 61ST Annual General Meeting at Thirst Park on Saturday, the chairman maintained that the beverage company had overpaid a significant amount of taxes and should be compensated.

“Banks DIH Limited is entitled, my fellow shareholders, to repayment of all monies overpaid together with interest thereon,” he told the stakeholders.
Reis added: “Before Banks DIH Limited instituted this legal proceeding, my fellow shareholders, the company instructed its legal advisors to send a (pre-action) letter to GRA and the Attorney General indicating its intention to seek redress in the court for a refund of the monies overpaid for the consumption taxes. A letter was sent to each of the said parties, however, neither the GRA nor the Attorney General responded to the said letter.”

He noted too that Banks DIH has also instructed its lawyers to seek constitutional redress for breach of its constitutional rights to equality with respect to Section 149 (d) of the Constitution of Guyana, having regard to the terms of the consent order of April 1, 2016, entered into between DDL and the GRA.
“This is because the settlement figure of $1.5B referred to in that court order shows that Banks DIH Limited has paid significantly more monies in respect of its consumption and excise taxes …during the relevant period when compared to its competitor.”
One of the shareholders, Malcolm De Freitas, expressed satisfaction with the decision of the Board of Directors to move to the courts.

“I am happy the board has gone forward with this simply because, as a constitutionalist, it is indeed a major disadvantage to the shareholders of this company when we are not treated with the equality that is expressed in the law. I’m happy to see that the board has recognised that and has done something towards it,” De Freitas told the Board of Directors in the presence of his fellow shareholders.

Weighing in on the matter, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, had said companies must understand that in tax matters, the statute of limitation applies.
“You can’t sit on your rights and hope that the cost would keep increasing and then you come 10 years later… if you are overpaying tax, you have three months you must bring an action,” the Attorney General told reporters recently.