About Us

Vision Statement

To realize a fully computerized Court (an e-Court) whereby services from the Registry to the Court and also to the Court’s external clients are available online.

Mission Statement

To deliver to our clients (both internal and external) a prompt and efficient system of appeals, from assessment to the various taxes and duties, and to deal effectively with any other matters which fall under its jurisdiction.

History

…Established in 1966 as a Superior Court of Record
…Exercises compulsory, exclusive and original jurisdiction in all appeals from assessments by all revenue bodies in Trinidad & Tobago.
…Is headed by a Chairman enjoying the terms and conditions of a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of the Judicature.

Composition & Expertise of Judges

…Members of the Court are appointed by the President of the Republic on the advice of the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago
…Are qualified or knowledgeable in law, commerce, finance, industry, accountancy, taxation or the valuation of property. The combination of mixed professional skills has been a visionary formula.

Composition of the Court

The Tax Appeal Board encompasses a Chairman and two full-time Ordinary Members. The composition of the Board is set out under the Tax Appeal Board Act Chapter 4:01.

Currently, the Chairman of the Tax Appeal Board is the Honourable Mr. Anthony D.J. Gafoor.

The Ordinary Member is the Honourable Mr. Roland N. Hosein.

HH Judge Anthony D.J. Gafoor Honorable Chairman

The Honourable Anthony D.J. Gafoor sits at the helm of the Tax Appeal Board holding the post of Office of Chairman since his appointment on December 15th 1998. The Office of the Chairman is by virtue of the Tax Appeal Board Act on par with that of a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court.

H.H. Anthony D.J. Gafoor was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, London in 1987 and in 1988 he was admitted to practice in Trinidad and Tobago. Whilst in the United Kingdom, His Honour served in private practice and also as legal adviser to a number of Government departments including the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, the Department of Energy and the Department of Trade and Industry, There he practiced in the fields of criminal and family law, general civil litigation, planning, energy law, company and commercial law and taxation.

His Honour Mr. Anthony D.J. Gafoor holds sundry qualifications in the fields of law, international relations, classics, philosophy, and theology. He is a certified mediator in family and civil matters as well as a mediation trainer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. In addition to this, he is also an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies and a Member of the Mediation Board of Trinidad and Tobago. He has served on various international bodies including the Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation Committees of the International Bar Association, and is also a member of the Association of Conflict Resolution, USA, the International Association for Conflict Management, USA and the Civil Mediation Council, UK.

The Honourable Chairman is the first person to be awarded with the Executive Certificate in Conflict Management from the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, Canada in conjunction with the Stitt Feld Handy Group. He is the second in the Caribbean to be awarded the Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK.

The Tax Appeal Board of Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to announce that His Honour, Mr. Anthony D. J. Gafoor, Chairman of the Tax Appeal Court, has been appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Assembly of Tax Judges (IATJ) in 2017. The IATJ is the preeminent global body of jurists formed in Rome in 2010 to enable jurists in the field of tax and other related areas to meet and exchange ideas pertinent to global tax affairs such as FATCA, interpretation of double tax treaties, tax havens and other relevant matters.

The IATJ is characterised as a critical forum for the dissemination and discussion of relevant statutory provisions and case law pertaining to various tax jurisdictions. Its membership is drawn from all five continents and has been chaired since 2010 by the Honourable Eugene P. Rossiter Chief Justice of the Tax Court of Canada who is assisted by the Board of Directors whose members are drawn from the global network of tax judges.

The Board of Directors is chaired by the Honourable Mr. Justice Rossiter, Chief Justice, Tax Court of Canada and also comprises other judges including Judge Malcolm Gammie, QC, United Kingdom, Justice Fabio Prieto, Brazil, Judge Peter Panuthos, US Tax Court, Justice Petri Saukko, Finland, Justice Dr. Vineet Kothari, India, Judge Manuel Garzón, Spain, Judge Manuel Luciano Hallivis Pelayo, Mexico, Judge Jennifer Davies, Australia, President Massimo Scuffi, Italy.

As defined by Article 2 of its by-laws, the IATJ is comprised of Courts, Tribunals or Administrative Bodies, Judges or retired Judges which or whom, irrespective of their official title (for instance Court, Tribunal, Justice, Judge, Adjudicator, Advocate-Generals, Tribunal Chair or Member, or the like) are or were nevertheless empowered to adjudicate, in disputes involving direct or indirect tax assessments. We of the Tax Appeal Board would like to congratulate the Honourable Chairman, H.H. Anthony D. J. Gafoor for this singular honour and wish him continued success.

HH Mr. Roland N. Hosein, Ordinary Member of the Tax Appeal Board

His Honour Mr. Roland N. Hosein is professionally qualified in both the fields of law and accountancy. He is an Attorney at Law having been called to the Bar in 1997 and attained Fellowship status of the Association of Chartered Accountants in 2016. His formative years were at Presentation College Chaguanas where upon graduation in 1992 he was awarded prizes for placing 1st in Social Sciences ‘A’ Level as well as 1st place in Accounting and Economics and in addition received a Prize for overall General Proficiency for his ‘A’ Level performances in Accounting, Mathematics and Economics for achieving a Grade A in each of these subjects.

At the inception of his professional career, His Honour served as an Associate Attorney at Ashmead Ali and Company and as the Legal Officer at the Companies’ Registry of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. During the period, 1999 to 2006 His Honour Mr. Hosein embarked on a period of service at the Board of Inland Revenue where he acceded to the post of State Counsel III. At the Revenue, he was awarded the Outstanding Effort Prize, in the Internal Revenue Service Award for his laudable work on Tax Reform. In 2003, His Honour Mr. Hosein was chosen for the United States International Visitor Leadership Programme.

In the years spanning from 2006 to 2009 His Honour held substantive posts at two of the Big Four Accounting Firms in the Banking Sector. From 2006 to 2007, His Honour Mr. Hosein was Tax Manager at KPMG and from 2007 to 2009 he was Tax Manager at Ernst and Young. In 2009 to 2012, he was the Head of Taxation with responsibility for tax compliance, reporting, and planning for the RBC Financial Group within the Caribbean, as well as reporting to its Head Office in Canada.

His Honour Mr. Hosein is also a part-time Lecturer and Tutor in Taxation at the Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies since 2009 and an Associate Tutor in Law Office Management, Accounting and Technology at the Hugh Wooding Law School since 2015.

He is currently an Executive Member of the Daren Ganga Foundation and has previously served as a member of the Provident Fund Committee of the West Indies Cricket Board and a director of the West Indies Player Management Company Limited as well as being a member of the negotiation team on behalf of the West Indies Players Association which had successfully entered into the historic first Collective Agreement with the West Indies Cricket Board in 2004.

He has a keen interest in cricket, football and music as well as being a fitness enthusiast.

Employees of the Tax Appeal Board

The Registrar: Mr. Dushant Persad Maharaj

Currently, the post of Registrar of the Tax Appeal Board is held by Mr. Dushant Persad Maharaj.

Mr. Persad Maharaj assumed the post of Registrar on February 1st, 2007. Prior to this, Mr. Persad Maharaj served as the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of the Turks and Caicos Islands where he worked alongside Mr. Christopher Gardner QC, the Chief Justice of that British Overseas Territory.

He also worked with then Lord Justice of Appeal, Sir Robin Auld QC and the Honourable Mr. Geoffrey Martin, Chief Justice of St. Helena who collectively acted as Chief Justice of the same during the hiatus of Chief Justice Gardner.

Mr. Persad Maharaj was a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Dundee in 2009, which afforded him the opportunity to undertake a Postgraduate Degree (LL.M) in Petroleum Law and Policy which he completed in January 2011. He also possesses an Executive MBA from the University of the West Indies.

Court Registry

Section 3 (1) of the Tax Appeal Board Act prescribes the nature of the duties and functions of the Registrar to the relation to the Registry. It states that the Registrar shall keep in the Registry, suitable books of record, in which he shall enter a true copy of every order, judgment, directive or other decision of the Court and every document that the Court may require to be entered therein; and such entries constitute and is the original record of such order, judgment, directive or decision. According to Section 3 (2) of the said Act, the duties of the Registrar in terms of his judicial functions are:

(a) To keep a record of all proceedings before the Court;

(b) To have the custody and care of all records and documents belonging or appertaining to the Court or filed in the Registry;

(c) To have the custody of the official seal of the Court and to affix it to any documents as may be required by law, or as may be generally or specially directed by the Court or the Chairman;

(d) To obey all rules and directions that may be made or given by the Court or the Chairman, touching his duties or Office, and in the event of a conflict of such rules or directions, those made by the Court shall prevail;

(e) To have every order or judgment of the Court drawn pursuant to the directive of the Court and filed in the Registry;

(f) To perform such other duties and functions as may be imposed upon him by or under these Rules or any written law.

It must be noted that Section 4 of the Tax Appeal Board Act states that the Registry shall be open on every day of the year between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. except Saturdays, Sundays, Good Friday, Easter Eve, Monday and Tuesday in Easter Week, Corpus Christi, Indian Arrival Day, Christmas Day and the next following working day, and all other days appointed to be observed as public holidays.

The Tax Appeal Board

About The Tax Appeal Board