Supreme Court won’t hear Guam governor’s tax refund appeal

HAGATNA, Guam – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition brought by Gov. Eddie Calvo’s administration that challenges a court order requiring the government of Guam to pay tax refunds no later than six months after the filing deadline.

The high court denied the petition Monday, according to The Pacific Daily News (http://bit.ly/292PNzG).

Calvo’s petition came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a Guam district court judge’s ruling on the tax refund matter.

The case was brought before a Guam judge in 2011 in response to decades of delayed tax refund payments. The plaintiffs also raised issue with the enactment of an expedited refund program that they claim had favoured friends and family of government officials.

Guam taxpayers had sued the government over alleged violations of a tax provision of the Organic Act of Guam and claims that the expedited tax refund program violated their equal protection rights.

In January 2013, Guam Judge Consuelo B. Marshall found the government in violation of the Organic Act. He ordered a permanent injunction for the payment of tax refunds within six months “after the filing of the claim for refund or six months from the due date for filing the claim for refund, whichever is later,” court documents state.

Calvo’s administration has argued that the federal government shouldn’t tell them when to pay tax refunds.