Funeral Services Owner Andrew Munnings Back in Court Over Tax Arrears

Andrew Munnings was back in court this afternoon where he was given another opportunity to make good on his initial commitment to pay off his tax arrears.  After much public scrutiny, some leniency was given to the funeral-home owner who landed at the Belize Central Prison yesterday on the strength of a committal warrant.  Our newsroom was at the courthouse when Munnings exited the court with his attorney, Orson Elrington, who both spoke on the matter at hand, and the court’s new ruling.

Andrew Munnings, Business Owner: “It is the foundation of what I have always been saying since I have been coming to court from 2023. I cannot pull something from the air that I don’t have. You know what I mean? If it is that I could have paid off every single thing that the tax service is saying that I owe them, I would have done that. If a family comes into my Albert Street office, I only have one office. Alright? And when you walk into that office, you don’t see no printing stuff. You don’t see no banners. You don’t even see a casket because we don’t create this stuff. What we do, Munnings Funeral Service is a collective agency. We work with 14 different businesses.14 different businesses where I’m proud to say most of them are young businesses. When I get $6,000 from a family that is distributed out, that doesn’t go in Andrew Munning’s pocket. If I make $600 profit from that, what then happens? That’s my staff, my rent, my family. I make cash based on my consultancy with the family, my directing of the funeral, and the execution of the funeral. So taxing me on that entire $6,000, that is outrageous. And that is exactly what my accountant and my attorneys have remedied and have been saying since day one.”

Orson Elrington, Attorney:“I will say that I will give the authorities some kudos in letting better thought come to mind and exercising their discretion and allowing Mr. Munnings to pay a significant sum because he paid $2,000. Well, not him, but his family paid $2,000 today on his behalf to be able to facilitate his release. However, as was emphasized to us by the learned magistrate before we left, and Mr. Munnings has said hence why he will not discuss in detail the legality of it, is that this is a real live issue, and in fact, the magistrate has indicated that if the full sum is not paid by October 16th, he faces the possibility of being incarcerated again.”

Munnings has been operation a funeral home since 2020.