We turn now to big news coming out of the Caribbean Court of Justice. That final appellate court has ruled against the Government of Belize in a dispute over stamp duties.
Several years ago, the company, G A Roe & Sons Limited, bought a piece of land from Belize Bank at a public auction for 150 thousand dollars. The company paid the Government of Belize $6,500 in stamp duties, which was based on the price that was stated in the deed of sale. The Commissioner of Stamps, within the Ministry of Natural Resources, later determined that the purchase price of 150 thousand dollars did not represent the market value of the piece of land. The Commissioner conducted a separate assessment of that same piece of land and determined that it was valued at 335 thousand dollars. As a result, G A Roe and Sons Limited was required to pay further stamp duties based on that higher sum.
The principals of that company disagreed with that second assessment, and sued the Commissioner of Stamps and the Attorney General. In that lawsuit, the company was pressing for a court order to prevent the Government from collecting duty on that enhanced amount, among other reliefs. They failed to convince the presiding Supreme Court judge of their viewpoint, and their appeal of that outcome at the Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.
The company persisted with their lawsuit, and appealed one last time at the Caribbean Court of Justice; their case was heard to completion on June 8, 2021. Today, a panel of judges, including CCJ President Adrian Saunders, delivered a decision in favor of the company.
The CCJ has found that the Commissioner's assessment of that enhanced amount should be set aside. That's because, in the view of the court, the Commissioner did not follow the process that was required by the Stamp Duty Act. The Commissioner in conducting the assessment, categorized the sale by public auction as a "forced sale". The Court disagreed and held instead, that this was an "arm's length sale" by public auction.
The judgement was delivered virtually via the court's YouTube page, and here's an excerpt of the comments made by the CCJ President this morning:
