Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday,
October 24
LTA wins its
appeal in tax case against Komoco Motors
SINGAPORE : The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has won its appeal
to recover over S$7 million in tax from car dealer Komoco
Motors.
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday overturned an earlier High Court
ruling which found that the Registrar of Vehicles had not
considered "with an open mind" if there were any "exceptional
circumstances" in the application of the tax to cars sold by
Komoco.
LTAs Corporate Secretary said the earlier High Court ruling by
Justice Judith Prakash showed that she had used an open mind to
arrive at her decision.
Tuesdays successful appeal would not, in any way, deter car
companies to come forward in future, as there is an avenue in the
law to hear their case.
But had LTA lost the appeal, it could have made it much harder for
the Authority to retrieve additional registration fee payments in
future.
LTA had claimed that as a result of a revision of import values in
2004, Komoco owed tax on 17,500 cars sold. The tax amounted to more
than S$7 million.
LTA said the Registrar was entitled to favour a policy of accepting
the customs valuation of a car, as long as there were exceptional
cases. And the Court of Appeal ruled that the Registrar had not
deferred her powers to the policy in assessing the amount of
tax.
In response, the lawyers for Komoco Motors said the ruling defers
the High Court judges decision because it is based on several key
principles of law and fact.
Lawyers for Komoco Motors said they have yet to hear from their
client on what their next move will be.
It will depend on what is in the written judgement of the appeal
judges and when LTA sends a letter to request for payment.
CNA/ms