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.
LTAÂ’s 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.
TuesdayÂ’s 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 judgesÂ’ 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