$400M lease being paid by TAJ for 2 unoccupied properties

Tax Administration Jamaica has been paying close to $400 million to lease two properties despite failing to occupy the buildings up to August last year. 

The revelation emerged from an audit conducted by the Auditor General, the report of which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The Auditor General conducted a special audit of Tax Administration Jamaica’s leasing arrangements in response to allegations which came to the attention of the Department.

Reports are that TAJ was seeking a property to relocate its tax office in Annotto Bay St Mary. It was further alleged that the sitting Member of Parliament, through his private company, bought a commercial building, a few metres from the existing tax office, which was subsequently leased to TAJ for approximately $700,000 per month.

It was also alleged that, although approximately eight months’ rent had been paid, the building was not yet occupied by TAJ,  and renovation works were yet to begin.

Based on the allegations, the Auditor General sought to assess whether there were breaches in the TAJ’s policies and procedures as well as government guidelines.

Despite discovering that the allegations were true, the Auditor General found no evidence that the sitting MP interfered with the TAJ’s procurement process, or influenced the decision to lease the property.

Additionally the Auditor General found that TAJ did not receive permission from the Commissioner of Lands prior to entering into the lease agreement for the Annotto Bay property.

The report also pointed out that TAJ is yet to occupy a property leased in Greenvale, Manchester, although it spent a total of $356,802,893 over the last three years.

The Auditor General said, as at August 2023, despite the completion of the proposal for renovation and furnishing in June 2019, and the first lease payment in September 2020, the necessary retrofitting and renovation works had not yet started as of August 2023.

The Auditor General noted that there are two other locations within the Mandeville area that the TAJ occupied, costing the Government $51.2 million per annum.

TAJ’s monthly lease payments for the properties combined as at August 2023, was more than $11 million.

Tax Administration Jamaica said it sought to relocate its operations in Mandeville to the 42,300-square-foot location to eliminate the challenges in the management and delivery of taxpayer services caused by operating the other two locations.

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