Tax services head Vinnette Keene said Wednesday that her department stands by a Finance Ministry commitment to pay tax refunds owed on pension fund investments, and would fulfil the commitment by year end.

The payments of outstanding refunds began last September but some fund managers suggested this week that the ministry had instructed her to suspend payments.

Keene now says that is not true and that the report misrepresented the facts.

The following is a statement from the director general:

"It is with tremendous dismay and disappointment that I read the article in today's Gleaner Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Business Section entitled "Davies suspends tax refunds to pension funds", which indicates in the first paragraph that instructions have been given to "the director general of tax administration Vinette Keene, to cease refunding the payment of withholding taxes on investments to pension funds."

Let me categorically state that neither the Honourable Minister of Finance or any other officer in the Ministry of Finance has given any instructions for Tax Administration to cease payments of withholding taxes on investments to pension funds.

The financial secretary has given representatives of the Pension Fund Management Com-panies a commitment and Tax Administra-tion stands by that commitment, which will be fulfilled by the end of the financial year.

This article is a misrepresenta-tion of the facts and I demand a withdrawal and a public apology.

Vinette Keene

Director General

Tax Administration