$2m tax ease

Government is expected to waive more than $2 million in taxes over the sale of the Almond Beach Village.
Also, shareholders in Almond Resorts Inc., the owner of that beach village property, will have to wait a little longer to get any possible payout.
These are two of the highlights in the 2013 annual report which is set to be discussed today when the company’s 23rd annual general meeting is held at the BS&T Training Facility, Coles Building, Bay Street, from 10 a.m.
In the report, auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers SRL said that “management has not taken into account any amount in respect of stamp duty or property transfer tax on the sale of the transaction as they expect these charges to be waived by the Government of Barbados.
“While we have been provided with correspondence to support management’s expectation of an official waiver, we have not been provided with statutory instruments or other audit evidence adequate to support the actual waiver.
“Had the stamp duty and property transfer tax on the transaction been recorded, assets held for sale, total assets, revaluation reserve and shareholders’ equity would all have been reduced by $2.5 million,” said the auditors.