Coopers Pen tax tangle

New Falmouth Resorts Limited is facing a mounting $26.3-million tax bill on more than 260 acres of prime land, which is now at the centre of a public dispute between Coopers Pen residents and the company.

Official Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) records obtained by The Gleaner reveal that the company, which acquired the land in March 2006, has failed to pay property taxes for six consecutive years since 2020, racking up more than $2 million in penalties.

Tax on the land, currently valued at $390 million, amounts to $3.4 million annually.

Efforts by The Gleaner to contact June Reid for comment have been unsuccessful. Calls to her cell phone have not been answered, and she has not responded to a WhatsApp request for comment.

Reid is the daughter of James Chisholm, the sole director and second-largest shareholder in the company until his death in 2021.

Reid and her oldest sister, Marcia-Ann Chisholm, remain shareholders in the company, which is listed as being “in removal” status, according to Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) records. Their sister, Jacquiline Chisholm, remained a shareholder until her death in February this year.

Chisholm and Company Development Limited is listed as the largest shareholder.

The Gleaner contacted the COJ and was told that the company’s status stems from its “large amount of outstanding annual returns”.

“So, it’s in the process of being struck from the record,” the COJ said.

Attorney-at-law Andre Earle explained that taxes “run with the land”.

He said once taxes are owed on a property or land, the State has the power to claim the land “to set off the amount”.

“The State would take control not to own it, but for the purposes of getting the taxes settled. If you owe taxes for one year and they come to you and say, ‘You need to pay the taxes’, they have the authority now to enforce payment in that way,” he told The Gleaner.

He said it is for this reason that property tax payments must be taken seriously, pointing out that before a sale, a tax payment certificate is often required to ensure that a purchaser does not inherit outstanding taxes on a property.

Under Section 7 of the Property Tax Act, late payments made after April 30 attract a 10 per cent penalty. Continued non-payment incurs an interest charge that is statutorily applied at up to 15 per cent per annum on the outstanding sum.

Section 4 of the act gives the collector of taxes the authority to sue the owner or person in possession to recover arrears, interest, penalties and legal costs, “with full costs of suit from the person charged therewith as a debt due to the Government”.

Further, Section 14 of the act, in tandem with Section 6 of the Quit Rents Act, allows the attorney general to initiate formal legal proceedings for property forfeiture to the Crown (Government) if taxes remain unpaid for five consecutive years.

“In every case where it shall appear that the quit rents are in arrear, and have not been paid in respect of any land in this island for the space of five years, such land may be proceeded against as forfeited to Her Majesty (His Majesty), her (his) heirs and successors, in right of the Government of Jamaica, for non-payment of such quit rents,” Section 6 of the Quit Rents Act reads.

Under Section 30 of the Tax Collection Act, financial assets belonging to the owner of the property can be seized and liquidated to cover the outstanding taxes.

Sections 26 and 37 allow the collector of taxes to serve notice on tenants or occupiers of the property, requiring them to pay their rent directly to the tax authorities until the arrears are cleared.

At the same time, Section 37 explicitly confirms that tenants can lawfully deduct tax payments from the rent owed to their landlord.

Meanwhile, Section 12 gives the accountant general the power to withhold property tax arrears directly from the public salary or funds of any government-employed property owner in default.

A predawn demolition operation on August 11 that left approximately 20 families homeless reignited a fresh row over the land in Coopers Pen, Trelawny.

The demolition operation followed a years-long legal battle over the private land, which ended with the Court of Appeal ruling against the Government in 2016 amid its efforts to compulsorily acquire the property for squatters.

New Falmouth Resorts first brought legal proceedings against occupants of the land in 2007, and in 2009 the Supreme Court ordered the 99 squatters to vacate the property and pay damages amounting to $50,000 each.

However, then Housing Minister Dr Omar Davies intervened in 2012 by declaring the property an “improvement area” to halt evictions.

The courts repeatedly rejected the move as an abuse of process, emphasising that while occupiers were misled by politicians, private constitutional land rights must be upheld.

The Court of Appeal ultimately dismissed Davies’ final appeal and awarded costs to New Falmouth Resorts.

The panel ruled that the Housing Act could not be used to circumvent binding eviction orders, expropriate private land for squatters, or resolve local political pressures under the guise of compulsory acquisition.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com