Guam – Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz is raised concerns that some island hotels may not be paying the Hotel Occupancy Tax [HOT].
The Vice Speaker cites un-named tourism leaders who, Senator Cruz says, told him at a recent luncheon that “as many as a dozen hotels are not remitting the Hotel Occupancy Taxes [HOT] they continue to charge to their guests.”
Cruz says in a release that the tourism industry leaders asked to remain anonymous.
He says they told him that they “believe that this willful violation of the law may lose the Guam Taxpayer as much as $10 million this fiscal year.”
To determine the truth of the claims, the Vice Speaker says he has filed a Freedom of Act request with Rev & Tax to determine:
1) The total number of Hotels compared to the total number delinquent in the remittance of the HOT.
2) The number of months each hotel has been delinquent and the amount due to be collected (specific hotel names are to be redacted and assigned a letter of the alphabet).
Senator Cruz is quoted in his release as saying “These community concerns must be verified and confronted or debunked and put to rest.”
READ the release from Senator Cruz below:
Leaders in Tourism Industry Tell Cruz Some Hotels Aren’t Paying Hotel Occupancy Taxes: Guam May Lose $10million This Year
(July 23rd, 2013 – Hagåtña) At a recent lunch with leaders of the tourism industry Vice Speaker Benjamin J.F. Cruz was informed that as many as a dozen hotels are not remitting the Hotel Occupancy Taxes (HOT) they continue to charge to their guests. These industry leaders, who have asked to remain anonymous, believe that this willful violation of the law may lose the Guam Taxpayer as much as $10million this fiscal year. This is why Cruz’s office issued a Freedom of Act request to Department of Revenue and Taxation Director John Camacho, earlier today.
Cruz writes, “These community concerns must be verified and confronted or debunked and put to rest.” Cruz has specifically requested the following information:
1) The total number of Hotels compared to the total number delinquent in the remittance of the HOT.
2) The number of months each hotel has been delinquent and the amount due to be collected (specific hotel names are to be redacted and assigned a letter of the alphabet).
Cruz points out that:
Title 11 Chapter 30 section 30105 reads as follows:
“Section 30105. Willful Failure to Collect or Pay over Tax. Any person, required under this Chapter to collect, account for, and pay over the tax imposed by this Chapter, who willfully fails to collect or truthfully account for and pay over such tax shall be guilty of a felony. Evidence of personal use of any such tax so collected by the person charged with collection, either in his business or otherwise, shall constitute prima facie evidence for willful failure to truthfully account for and pay over such tax in violation of this Chapter.”
In the event that the HOT has gone willfully uncollected, Cruz asks, how many individuals have been referred to the Attorney General for prosecution and the outcome of each referral.
