Court allows review of tax assessment decision

THE Tax Court of Fiji has allowed the review of a decision by the chief executive officer of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) to assess monies held in an overseas bank and levy an income tax of $125,664.51 and penalties of $74,000.

Mohammed Ali was assessed for income tax and levied penalties by the FRCS in 2017 for money he had in a bank account in Australia.

Mr Ali then lodged an objection with the FRCS as required under Section 16 of the Tax Administration Act and filed an application for review before the Tax Tribunal.

“The respondent (CEO FRCS) submitted that the application for review was filed on 14 February 2019 passing the statutory 30-day timeline for filing the application for review, and that the tribunal’s finding that the application for review was filed 502 days out of time is correct,” said Justice Javed Mansoor in his January 24 ruling.

“The tribunal’s observation is that it is bordering on the absurd to suggest that the respondent is required to involve itself in a parallel process dealing with the exact same issue by virtue of the communication that was made by the legal representative. “The respondent (CEO FRCS) has collected the taxes and penalties under Section 21 (3) of the Act which states that tax due under a tax assessment is payable notwithstanding that an objection, application for review by the tax tribunal, or notice of appeal to the tax court has been lodged by the taxpayer in respect of the assessment.

“Without going into the merits, it will suffice to say that the taxpayer has paid the disputed tax to the revenue authorities. It is a substantial sum.

“There will be little prejudice to the respondent, whereas a denial of an extension of time could turn out to be damaging to the appellant.

“In the overall circumstances, the court is of the view the appellant (Mr Ali) must be allowed to question the basis upon which his overseas bank deposits have been assessed.”