CCJ to rule on GRA’s tax deduction

Nov 26, 2021 News

2004 LinMine, BIDCO’s worker damages award…

Kaieteur News – The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is expected to hand down its ruling in the appeal of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) decision to asses and deduct tax from damages that were awarded to former bauxite employee, James Ramsahoye, some 17 years ago.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Ramsahoye appeal was yesterday heard by Justices at the CCJ which included its President, Justice Adrian Saunders, Justice Jacob Wit, Justice Winston Anderson, Justice Denys Barrow and Justice Andrew Burgess. The case stems from a legal challenge filed by Ramsahoye in 2004, five years after he was terminated as an employee of the then Linden Mining Enterprises (LIMINE) and Bauxite Industry Development Company Limited (BIDCO).
Ramsahoye won a judgment award for damages to the tune of US$174,032.49 and a pension of US$2,000.72 monthly. The judgment award for damages was deemed taxable by GRA. As a result, Ramsahoye moved to the Court to challenge GRA’s right to deduct taxes from his award. Yesterday the matter came up before CCJ in which the judges were made to review the conditions by which the monies were deducted and whether GRA had the legal right to do so.
The Court heard that being terminated in 1998, after 26 years of service, Ramsahoye took legal action against his former employers, Linden Mining Enterprises and Bauxite Industry Development Company Limited (BIDCO), which were state enterprises.
He was unsuccessful at the High Court, and in 2004, he appealed the judgment and was awarded damages of US$174,032.49 and a pension of US$2,000.72 monthly.
According to reports, following the ruling by Guyana’s Court of Appeal (COA), there were multiple proceedings between the parties aimed at either preventing the payment of, or enforcement of, the sums awarded in the decision.
The aforementioned ruling later led to Ramsahoye approaching the CCJ. The appeal at the CCJ surrounded whether or not damages are taxable under the Income Tax Act and what procedures GRA must comply with to ensure procedural fairness. The appeal also raises vital issues concerning what constitutes taxable income under the Income Tax Act Cap 81:01, and the process and procedural safeguards that GRA must adhere to in order to ensure a process that is fair, transparent and accords with the principles of natural justice.
Damages are monetary awards owed to a winning plaintiff by the losing defendant in a civil case tried in a court of law. It should be noted that civil damages are granted when a person is injured and/or suffers a loss which stems from the wrongful or negligent actions of another party.
Yesterday, the attorneys for the appellant and the respondent made their submissions to the CCJ and during their submissions it was noted that the equivalent of the original judgment award; the sum of $44 million was deposited to the court’s registry by the GRA.
During the two-hour hearing, the lawyers were also asked a series of questions by the CCJ judges. Ramsahoye was represented by attorneys-at-law C.V Satram, Roopnarine Satram and Ron Motilall, while attorney-at-law, Maritha Halley, in association of Judy Stuart-Adonis and Hessaun Yassin-Nandlall, appeared on behalf of GRA.

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