Tax - Haiti Observer Blog

Haiti Telecommunication International (Haitel) is now in receivership as a result of its tax problems with the government. General Tax Directorate (DGI) director general Jean Baptiste Clark Neptune announced that the request for Haitel's receivership was approved in order to continue the company's operations and protect its employees and shareholders. Neptune clarified that the measure was taken not to close the telecommunication company but to help it resume its operations.

It can be recalled that Haitel has been buried in debt. Since 2005, it has accumulated a debt of more than $80 million in government taxes from several institutions such as DGI, National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL), BRH and BNC, among others. The total debt accounts for 40% of government taxes.
CONATEL director Jean Marie Guillaume, who held a meeting with the DGI director, said that Haitel could no longer keep up its operation. It does not have money to pay its employees and purchase fuel for its generations anymore. As a matter of fact, the director added, Haitel's employees have not received their salary for over five months.

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After several weeks of studying Daniel-Gerard Rouzier's paperwork and credentials, the Haitian Parliament rejected the choice of Michel Martelly for Prime Minister of Haiti. In a vote in the lower-level Chamber of Deputies, forty-two deputies voted against Daniel-Gerard Rouzier to become prime minister of Haiti, while only 19 voted in favor. Three deputies abstained.

The deputies who voted against the nomination of Daniel-Gerard Rouzier charged him with Tax evasion and not being honest in submitting the passport he frequently travels with. There is a suspicion that Rouzier might have dual citizenship. Under the current Haitian constitution, high ranking officials can not have dual citizenship.

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The Haitian musician, record producer and politician Wyclef Jean owes the IRS $2.1 million, according to Federal tax liens that were filed against him.

Wyclef's waterfront mansion located in Miami Beach, Florida has been repossessed by the bank since November 2008. According to report obtained by the Haitian Joudalist, The property was valued at $1.4 million. Wyclef took a mortgage for $2 million; however he fell behind in payments.

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