Sandals Resorts International has refuted the latest claims by Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Brown that the resort group has been seeking to avoid its tax obligations.
In a statement calling the remarks ‘vicious, sustained and defamatory’ it said Sandals Grande Antigua is the ‘most significant contributor to the economy’,
“We are the leading earner of foreign exchange and the highest private sector employer. Sandals is unmatched in marketing Antigua and Barbuda throughout the world, while its citizens benefit from Sandals’ world renowned training and development programs including access to the Sandals Corporate University,” said the statement.
The company cites a March 2000 agreement with a former PM to grant relief from hotel tax and guest levy charge in exchange for building an additional 100 rooms.
That relief was upheld in 2009 when the government changed how hotel taxes were calculated, Sandals said.
“Since then Sandals has continued to fulfill its tax obligations in a timely manner and as a responsible stakeholder in Antigua and Barbuda.”
“The Prime Minister is aware of all of this, yet seems intent on maintaining his ill-conceived campaign of defamation against Sandals and its chairman, both inside and outside of parliament. He either does not comprehend, or is intentionally and maliciously misleading the public.”
He is claiming that his government has ‘written off’ XCD$100 million’, Sandals added.
