Federal tax lien placed on Roil Soil; questions arise about business license renewal without tax clearance during BOOST period

A business that was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to market the controversial BOOST program in 2022 owes $11,369.68 in taxes to the Commonwealth government dating back to 2019.

A federal tax lien on October 26, was placed on taxpayer Shayne Villanueva and his business, Roil Soil Clothing, according to federal court documents.

Roil Soil billed more than $300,000 to the BOOST program – a federally-funded initiative mired in cronyism and corruption – to market the giveaway of money. Democratic lawmakers in the last legislature who investigated the corruption in December said the spending of even one dollar to market a program that gave money away was preposterous.

HOW DID ROIL SOIL HAVE A BUSINESS LICENSE WITHOUT A TAX CLEARANCE?

The lien shows that by 2022 – the year Roil Soil operated as a marketing agent for the BOOST program – Roil Soil had been assessed unpaid taxes for tax years going back to 2019. The first assessment was made on February 25, 2021, followed by two more assessments through September 30, 2022. During that time, Roil Soil’s business license needed to be renewed.

Business licenses cannot be renewed without tax clearances. Tax clearances, according to revenue and taxation rules, can only be issued if the taxpayer does not owe taxes, or has a payment plan to pay down unpaid taxes.

Kandit has asked and is awaiting response from the CNMI Department of Finance about whether Roil Soil had business licenses in 2021 and 2022. And, if the business did have business licenses, how were those licenses issued without tax clearances?