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Torres wants companies to comply with tax code
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Posted on May 02 2019
Without naming them, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres stressed that his administration is not letting any company get away with not paying its taxes.
“We encourage all companies to comply with our tax code…and that means everybody.
“… We’ve seen companies in the CNMI that have been here since the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s that are still paying back taxes,” he said.
Last week at the House Ways and Means Committee meeting, Finance officials, led by Ryan Camacho, disclosed that one of the biggest business taxpayers, Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LCC, has so far only remitted $41,000 in casino gross revenue tax from October 2018 to April 23, 2019.
This is a far cry from the $40.9 million CGRT payment that IPI paid in 2016, $67.7 million in 2017, and $43.6 million in 2018.
Torres said the tax laws apply to everyone and not just IPI. “We would like to make sure that they are in compliance.
He acknowledged that many companies, and not just IPI, has had workforce issues lately. “…Everybody has been having issues with workforce. …It is not just IPI that is affected…”
“Look at all the other big investments that have been here. like the hotels. They’ve ceased continuing what they want to do and this is alarming for the administration as we see other projects that are also on hold because of the problem with our workforce.” he added.
Torres reiterated that his administration is working with these companies to find solutions to their issues and not to penalize them. “For all businesses, we are here to work as partners and we are not here to find a way to penalize. We are here to make sure we are business partners…” he said.
