Guam Governor Eddie Calvo has appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn a federal court's ruling that the U.S. territory pay tax refunds no later than six months after the deadline. Calvo and his lawyers have said that the federal court's ruling calls into question the time-honored relationship between the United States and Guam, whose sovereignty it has recognized.
The Guam governor also contested the same federal court's decision that the U.S. territory pay the plaintiff's attorney's fees, arguing that the U.S. has always regarded Guam as an independent tax-collecting federal agency.
The Pacific Islands Report elaborates further, quoting Calvo's attorneys who argue that the act of setting a deadline for Guam to pay the tax refunds is not only "burdensome," and a disruption of the harmonious long-standing relationship between Guam and the United States. The U.S. tax code has required all the states to annually pay the interest on unpaid refunds. The government of Guam has been paying interest to the taxpayers during the release of the tax refunds but not the refund payment itself.
Yahoo News has noted that the Guam government only has up to December 31 to file the appeal to the United States Supreme Court. During the early part of 2015, Calvo and his attorneys have already lost their last appeal in the U.S Ninth Circuit Court.
In a related development reported by The Pacific Daily News, the Guam government will also appeal the federal court's ruling for them to pay $1.7 million to the plaintiff's lawyers. Calvo's attorneys contest this ruling which they cited as inapplicable to Guam because of its sovereign status which the U.S. has recognized. Yahoo News mentioned that Guam has always been regarded as a tax-collecting federal agency and thus cannot be held liable for legal fees that are sought after by any plaintiff.
