Antigua Prime Minister has Strong Words for Sandals in Tax Dispute

By Caribbean Business Report | Editorial credit: Joni Hanebutt / shutterstock.com

Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, has accused luxury all-inclusive chain Sandals of attempting to exploit tax concessions and evade paying taxes.

“We are currently facing an issue with Sandals,” Browne remarked recently on a weekly radio program.

“The Inland Revenue has assessed them for EC$30 million (CAD$15.59 million) in unpaid taxes, and I’m sure it will turn into another fight. I don’t understand why these so-called investors act as if they’re the only game in town, the only stakeholders that should benefit. They try to squeeze every last drop of revenue without giving anything back to the government.”

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne (at left).

Browne singled out Sandals, but included other large international hotel chains in his remarks, saying that they frequently benefit from substantial tax breaks and concessions from Caribbean island governments — sometimes as much as 25 years of tax-free operations.

Despite these incentives, Browne claims that resorts continue to demand more. He also criticized Sandals specifically for threatening to withdraw investment or relocate operations, calling it an “exploitative” tactic. He even went so far as to declare that if the hotel chain decides to “spite us and lock down the hotel,” the government will move to “compulsorily acquire it” and sell it to a new operator.

Browne highlighted concerns over Sandals’ management structure, stating that the company repatriates large sums under “management services” contracts that divert funds out of Antigua.

“Sandals has a setup where, on top of the regular management in Antigua, there’s an external company billing for ‘management services,’ funneling millions of dollars out of the local economy,” he said.

The prime minister called for greater regional unity to ensure a more equitable relationship with international hotel chains, stressing the importance of balancing tourism growth with local benefits. This is an issue that has been discussed at Caribbean tourism conferences for more than three decades.

Despite his fiery public pronouncements, Browne says he does not want to create a public spat with Sandals.

“I don’t want to go down this road with them again. I want to appeal to them to please work with us. If we have to call them out again, we will. They’ve had similar issues in the Bahamas, where they engaged in practices that were completely inappropriate, and now they have to pay up. Everywhere they go, this seems to be their modus operandi they feel entitled to reduce government taxes and keep all the profits for themselves.”

Browne called for what he sees as a more equitable relationship between hotel companies and the countries that host them.

“You have staff who deserve fair wages, and the government needs to receive its fair share of taxes. You can’t just focus on exploiting concessions and pushing governments to the brink; enough is enough,” he said.

Sandals “respectfully declined” to comment on this story.

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