Bill Seeking to Reimburse AECOM and APTIM Gross Receipt Tax Payments is 'Ill-Conceived' and 'Caters to Special Interest,' Bryan Says

Governor Albert Bryan has described the piece of legislation that seeks to reimburse AECOM and APTIM gross receipt tax payments the firms made as part of the Emergency Home Repair program as ill-conceived. AECOM and APTIM are two of the largest companies performing construction work in the territory since Hurricanes Irma and Maria. On Friday, Bill No. 34-0197, whose original sponsor was Sen. Kurt Vialet but in an updated version listed Sen. Marvin Blyden as the chief proposer according to versions of the bill gleaned by the Consortium, sought to change the current Virgin Islands gross receipt tax law by allowing GRT expenses owed to APTIM and AECOM to be listed as construction or project costs in invoices that the federal government would then have to pay. Normally, gross receipt taxes, a 5 percent levy, are not included as pass-through costs in contracts. GRT costs are usually obligations that must be met with other local work and employment taxes in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pass-th...