pioneer wrote:How nobody buss de mark bout Anand two tax free range rovers?
Exemption granted 2 years later an all
AG’s Land Rover Mystery
Conflicting Customs documents arise on tax exemptions for luxury vehicles
By By Anika Gumbs and Denyse Renne CCN Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalists
Story Created: Nov 2, 2013 at 9:31 PM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 3, 2013 at 12:04 AM ECT
Mystery surrounds conflicting Customs and Excise documents related to tax exemptions on the importation of two Range Rovers in three years from the United Kingdom by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.
The vehicles in question are PCR 2, a Range Rover TDV Vogue and PCX 2, a Range Rover Autobiography.
Records at the Licensing Authority in Port of Spain show that the Range Rover TDV Vogue was registered on August 4, 2010 while the Range Rover Autobiography was registered on January 10, 2013.
Official Customs and Excise (C&E) documents show the Range Rover Autobiography, valued at £76,922.64 (TT$815,373.20) arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on July 31, 2012.
The vehicles were imported from London by Navarro’s Brokerage Ltd in Port of Spain.
A copy of the invoice shows the Range Rover Autobiography was purchased from Scott Broder (Maritime) Ltd of Radnor House, Manor Way, London.
It is unclear if the Range Rover TDV Vogue was purchased from the same company but the certified copy stated the vehicle was imported from England.
Under the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), all Members of Parliament are exempt from paying taxes on motor vehicles over a two-year period.
Chapter 20 of the SRC outlines the transport facilities afforded to the officials who qualify for the exemption.
Among them is a maximum loan of $300,000 at a rate of interest of six per cent per annum repayable over a period of six years to facilitate the purchase of either
(a) A new motor vehicle with full exemption of Motor Vehicle Tax, Value Added Tax and Customs Duty; or
(b) A used motor vehicle with full exemption from Special Motor Vehicle Tax, Value Added Tax and Customs Duty.
However, while Ramlogan is entitled to these facilities, a Sunday Express investigation has found documents bearing contradictory information in relation to the multi-million-dollar-vehicles.
Range Rover TDV Vogue
Documents obtained by the Sunday Express show approval for the tax exemption in relation to the Range Rover TDV Vogue that list the chassis number as SALLMAM23AA322211 and engine number 0439516368DT were signed and dated by C&E officials on September 7, 2012.
However, a note is listed on the certified copy of the Range Rover TDV Vogue dated August 4, 2010 which reads: “Exempted from motor vehicle tax...Ministry of Finance Circular.”
Exactly how the tax exemption form for the Range Rover TDV Vogue is dated some two years after the vehicle was registered in 2010 is unknown.
Explaining the exemption procedure granted to government and non-government officials a senior public official who spoke to Sunday Express under condition of strict anonymity said the normal procedure was for an exemption form to be produced at the time a vehicle is being purchased.
Asked if it was possible for an exemption to be granted two years after a vehicle is registered the senior public official said: “When a vehicle is being purchased the exemption form is produced showing that taxes are not to be paid. When you purchase a vehicle the car dealer is aware if you are entitled to an exemption or not. Taxes cannot be exempted two years after a vehicle is registered. It is impossible for the bureaucracy to take two years for an exemption to be granted. For the most the paperwork may take six weeks to two months, certainly not two years. Something is wrong if a vehicle is registered in 2010 and the exemption form is showing approval was granted in 2012. That is not possible. In fact, the exemption would have had to be granted before the vehicle was registered.”
Attempts by the Sunday Express to get answers from C&E and Licensing officials were unsuccessful except to be told that the exemption form should be presented at the time the vehicle is registered.
“Questions need to be answered,” a senior transport official told the Sunday Express after viewing the documents.
The exemption form was also signed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of the Attorney General Marlene Juman but not dated.
The Sunday Express learned that at the time of the 2010 transaction involving the Range Rover TDV Vogue, Juman was attached to the Ministry of Finance.
Permanent secretary Simeon Yearwood was attached to the Ministry of the Attorney General at the time the Range Rover TDV Vogue was purchased.
Investigations revealed Yearwood did not sign the exemption form.
And when the Sunday Express contacted Yearwood last Saturday to get confirmation as to whether he was the permanent secretary attached to the Ministry of the Attorney General in August 2010 he said: “Yes I was.”
Asked if he was aware of the purchase of the Range Rover TDV Vogue by Ramlogan and if he approved the exemption, he said: “As far as I can recall I did not approve any such exemption relating to a Range Rover.”
Range Rover
Autobiography
Further probing revealed that on September 7, 2012- the same day approval was granted for the exemption of the Range Rover TDV Vogue- documents were also submitted to C&E declaring the importation of the Range Rover Autobiography.
The Customs declaration number is listed as A20021.
The C&E duties receipt number is listed as 25461 and dated September 10, 2012.
On the record of payment of motor vehicle tax form where Ramlogan is listed as the importer/consignee, motor vehicle tax in the sum of $368,113.12 is listed as being paid for the Range Rover Autobiography on September 10, 2012.
The chassis number for the Range Rover Autobiography is listed as SALLMAME3CA382809.
The document was signed by Mark Navarro who is listed as the importer/authorised agent and bears the C&E stamp dated September 26, 2012.
However, a second record of payment of motor vehicle form was prepared with the same information except that this time it was indicated that motor vehicle tax was not applicable to the Range Rover Autobiography.
The second document was signed by Jeffrey Gonzalez.
Checks by the Sunday Express revealed that Gonzalez is also employed at Navarro’s Brokerage Ltd.
He could not be contacted for comment.
And while Navarro admitted to importing the vehicles he said a confidentiality clause prevented him from revealing details relating to the business transactions of customers and the contradictory information submitted on the forms.
It is uncertain exactly who authorised the motor vehicle tax to be exempt for the Range Rover Autobiography. It is unclear if the exemption was given since one document indicates that the tax was paid while the other states the motor vehicle tax was exempt.
Not even Ramlogan could shed light on the conflicting information listed on the forms when the Sunday Express e-mailed questions to him seeking clarity in relation to the transaction.
And Juman, sources told the Sunday Express, would have been unable to approve the exemption given that her signature is affixed on another exemption document dated September 7, 2012.
Sources at the Ministry of the Attorney General said that the circumstances surrounding the exemption of the Range Rover Autobiography remain “unclear” and officials within the ministry are in the dark over the exemption being granted.
“No one knows anything about this vehicle receiving an exemption.
“The ministry is unaware of this. I have no idea (about) what you are speaking of. From the information we have, approval was only given for the first vehicle (Range Rover TDV Vogue) to be exempted,” a source said.
Asked about the specific procedure with regard to Ramlogan receiving a tax exemption and whether he was required to produce a receipt or evidence of the vehicle’s chassis number following the purchase of the vehicle, the source said: “If Ramlogan is purchasing the vehicle in his private capacity, he wouldn’t need to do that.
“He wouldn’t need to do anything except sign off that he’s a minister and is entitled to the exemption.”
This, the source said, is done with the PS’s approval.
Adding that it is strange if the documents produced showed an exemption was permitted for the Range Rover Autobiography, the source said: “This is indeed cause for concern especially since the ministry is unaware about this transaction.”
In the lead-up to the local government elections on October 21, Ramlogan publicly accused deputy political leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Anna Deonarine, of alleged wrongdoing in relation to her purchasing a stolen Range Rover from London.
Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard SC has found that there was no evidence to support the claim.
