(Jamaica Gleaner) Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is not backing down despite threats of legal action by telecommunications giant Digicel following a raid at the company’s New Kingston head office on Friday.
The state agency is standing by its decision, which saw its agents securing and using a search warrant issued by a judge of the Supreme Court to carry out the raid at the offices of Digicel.
The sole purpose of the operation was to ensure that General Consumption Tax (GCT) paid by customers was paid over in full to the tax authorities, TAJ information director Meris Haughton said in a release on Saturday.
She said negotiations since December 2011 with Digicel “failed to provide all relevant information requested”.
Haughton added: “The operation was done with the support of the police, who acted professionally at all times.
“By virtue of Section 17J of the Revenue Administration Act, TAJ is empowered to seek and use a search warrant to retrieve records and documents from any taxpayer in circumstances where this becomes necessary, once it is clearly demonstrated to the court that this action is warranted under the given circumstances.”
