The Revenue Court is yet to hand down its ruling on Carreras Limited's challenge of the $5.7 billion tax assessment against the company in 2003, more than nine months after the hearings concluded.

"On May 22, 2006 the matter was addressed in the Revenue Court and we were promised a decision a month after that," said Michael Bernard at the monthly Mayberry Investment Forum.

The assessment against the cigarette maker and distributor by the Taxpayer Audit & Assessment Department (TAAD) was for $2.17 billion covering five years of back taxes from 1997- 2002, which TAAD claimed to have been distributions ? that is, dividend payments or capital gains ? and not loans as booked by Carreras, and $3.54 billion in applied penalties.

However, the company maintains that they were loans from its subsidiary Cigarette Company of Jamaica, and challenged the assessment in court.

Carreras says it expects to prevail against the TAAD.

Bernard told Wednesday Business that if the ruling did not go in Carreras' favour, the company's liability would remain at $5.7 billion, unless it failed to pay within the new time stipulated by the court.

"There's no additional interest," said Mr. Bernard.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com