Basa, Covenant-Saipan, said the hotel has not been paying tax to the government for many years now.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, in a separate interview said about five years ago, the Department of Finance issued a tax lien against the hotel. The amount owed to the government during that time, Yumul said, ranged from $13 million to $20 million.
Only the hotel owes the government and not the casino which pays dues to the Tinian Casino and Gaming Control Commission, Yumul said.
Basa said allowing Tinian Dynasty not to pay its taxes is not fair to other businesses that meet their obligations.
“We need to put a stop to that kind of treatment. This is the time we are in dire need of revenue. We are in desperate need for cash now,” Basa said.
He noted that the government needs $13 million “only” to restore the 80 working hours for government employees.
If the government would start collecting what the Tinian Dynasty owes it, payless paydays would not have happened, he said.
Basa said if the government is going to wait longer “our hope of getting [the owed taxes] is going to be slim.”
The government should come up with a payment plan to allow the hotel to pay taxes gradually.
But Yumul doubts whether the government can “squeeze” taxes from Tinian Dynasty which has been struggling since it opened in 1998.
Perhaps the owner can sell the hotel to a new investor who is willing to pay the unpaid taxes, Yumul added.
“But who’s going to buy something that comes with a tax debt?”
In a separate interview yesterday, Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz said his office has been talking with the owner of the Tinian Dynasty” to discuss its obligations not only to the central government but also to the municipality.
However, he added, “we have to understand too that the existence of Tinian Dynasty and the economic benefits it brings is not only concentrated on Tinian.”
He said since the hotel opened, a “big chunk” of economic activity also took place on Saipan.
A lot of tourists who planned to patronize Tinian Dynasty landed on Saipan first, he added.
“It is better to stick with a goose laying a couple of eggs than to kill the goose,” he said.
