By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

A liquor store proprietor has argued it would be “unfair” for long-established alcohol merchants and bars to be denied licence renewals in the Government’s crackdown on the sector’s inner-city saturation.

George Robinson Jr, owner of Base Road Wholesale Bar, challenged what would happen to businesses that were always compliant “with the old rules” but are now deemed by the tax authorities to have “unsuitable premises” or be located too close to schools and churches. Nevertheless, he backed the Davis administration’s move to address what it views as an over-proliferation of liquor stores.

Shunda Strachan, the Department of Inland Revenue’s acting controller, speaking at the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly media briefing on Thursday, said she does not “know what that’s going to look like” if an already-established liquor business is deemed unsuitable - and denied registration - under reforms to the Business Licence Act that passed into law alongside the 2025-2026 Budget.

A merchant whose premises is deemed  “unsuitable” risks being denied a Business Licence or renewal of an existing one. All applications, whether for a new Business Licence or renewal, will now also be subject to a public consultation to gain the local community’s views on the presence of a liquor store and its impact.

However, Ms Strachan added owners aggrieved by a licence application rejection have a right to appeal to the courts “that does not include us”. But, when asked if a business will have to cease operations while awaiting the outcome of an appeal, she replied: “Possibly.”

“The Department of Inland Revenue is reasonable,” Ms Strachan added. “We’re reasonable in what we do. And let’s say, for instance, you already have a liquor establishment, but we now deem your premises unsuitable. Your premises are not suitable, and so we’re not going to register you. I don’t know what that’s going to look like.

“It probably will look like us, of course, going through a period of consultation. Can you amend your premises to make it suitable? But in any event, the Department of Inland Revenue has strict guidelines to follow, which we will follow. We have no choice, and once we follow them, if a decision is given and it’s not a decision that the business owner can accept, there’s a whole process of appeal.

“And so it’s not just Inland Revenue that’s going to... You know, I’ve heard them say ‘Oh, Inland Revenue do what they want.’ Absolutely not. First of all, the legislation was enacted. We’re not involved in that just then. Our role is to carry out the laws that have been passed,” she continued/

“And so we carry out the policies and procedures as is in our Act. And if it is that the decision made by the Department in accordance with those laws, those policies and procedures, is not a decision that the taxpayer wishes to accept, there is a whole process that they can carry out.”

Mr Robinson said that if a liquor store was the first such business to be established in its area, and was granted a Business Licence to operate legitimately, it should not be refused during the registration process.

“Well, what we would have to look at is how the person got the licence in the first place because these things are already in place,” Mr Robinson added. “So that means that those who got approved, something went wrong, because they should not have been approved in the first place.

“Now they would have to look to see who was there first. If the bar was there first, and the church and the school came afterwards, it wouldn’t be fair to the person that made that investment. If you have a bar that was there, the church came afterwards, you’re not in breach of the law. So it wouldn’t be fair to close them down.”

Ms Strachan also pointed to a rise in complaints from persons within communities where liquor stores are presently operating. She said the Department of Inland Revenue will consider that as a factor in the registration process.

“There have been a lot of, I guess, complaints recently from persons in neighbourhoods because of the noise pollution and that type of thing relative to liquor businesses that may be near to a community or near to a neighbourhood,” she said.

“I call it noise pollution, where the music playing all night, or that type of thing where you’re really infringing on a community. So those are some of the things that Inland Revenue will have to pay attention to when we deal with the whole registration of liquor businesses.”

Mr Robinson acknowledged that some liquor establishments do not comply with what is expected of them, but added that most do. He supports the shut down of non-compliant businesses in the sector.

“Now when she was speaking about the noise being in a neighbourhood, you have to be compliant,” he added. “I’ve known a couple of bars in my days that complaints were made from the neighbours, and the people weren’t complying. They were having fights. So they would close you down. They would close you down if you become a nuisance to the community. And a lot of people complain about it. It has happened before.

“If they really read their licence, certain things are there. You have to control the loud music... If you go by back in the day when we used to run our restaurant and bar, the music could not be played to the annoyance of your neighbour.

“And what some of these bars are doing, they are putting speakers on the outside of the premises. It’s against the law to do that. Once you are in compliance with the old rules, it wouldn’t be fair to close nobody down, if you already give them a licence and they are complying with the rules,” Mr Robinson continued.

“Now, the ones who are not complying, well, it has happened before. It wouldn’t be unfair, because the law is the law, and we have guidelines we have to go by. So you can’t be playing loud music all night just because you have a licence. No, they can revoke your licence. See, that licence is not guaranteed for life. That licence is only guaranteed for one year.

That’s the chance you take. It is guaranteed for one year. So if you are not in compliance, they can revoke your licence. If you are in compliance with everything, and you already have your investment, it wouldn’t be fair [if] they shut you down because I am there, and just because you have some disgruntled neighbours who don’t want you there. They would have to have really good grounds for that.”

The “liquor portal” for merchants to register with the Department of Inland Revenue will become available and active on September 1. Ms Strachan said “having a licence doesn’t mean that you will be registered”. Mr Robinson backed the registration process, but questioned why a fee of $100 is attached, adding that the cost of a Business Licence itself is significant.