Tax Dept., not police initiated Anderson incident

And while we should have a new top prosecutor by mid-week, the dust has yet to settle on the unusual exit of the old one. Today Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Marilyn Ordonnez emphasised that the stopping of former D.P.P. Kirk Anderson at the airport for non-payment of income tax was done at the behest of her department and was not any rogue action by police officers attempting to settle old scores. According to Ordonnez, the Income Tax Department had previously come to agreement with Anderson for the payment of his twenty-eight thousand dollar tax bill, and he had agreed to pay before he left. When they heard he was departing Belize to take up employment in his native Jamaica, however, it became necessary to detain him as allowed by law. Immigration officers were advised as was airport security, who called on local police for assistance. Ordonnez told us that, although rare, there have been previous detentions for non-payment of income tax. She noted that while the airlines may have grown lax in the checking for tax releases, the law still requires all Belizeans and even foreigners resident more than thirty days to have all their taxes settled prior to any trip abroad. Frequent flyers can apply for a one year release and even those who owe back taxes can be given a release provided a guarantor signs for their liability. Although constitutional experts may want to look into the legal validity of such a restriction on our freedoms, until that happens travellers are advised to visit the tax office and avoid the kind of embarrassment experienced by Anderson, who it may be recalled, had to make a hasty trip to the bank before boarding a later flight.