Magistrate in hot water over 'administrative' VAT issue

An administrative issue involving a missing VAT return – which has since been settled - has landed a magistrate in the prosecution’s list for a VAT court sitting.  Magistrate Monica Vella failed to submit a VAT return for work carried out before she was appointed magistrate, sparking an administrative investigation. She was due to be charged with the minor offence on July 23 before magistrate Joe Mifsud but that did not happen as police had not yet notified her of the charges.  The case was put off to October, the next scheduled VAT sitting. However, sources close to the tax authorities have confirmed that the magistrate has since filed the missing document and has settled pending issues with the taxman. Magistrate Vella was appointed to the bench in May 2015 after having been Labour’s mayor of Xewkija for 11 years and later Commissioner for Justice in a local tribunal. She began practising law in 1998 and had served as a judicial assistant in the superior courts between 2009 and her appointment. Sources said the magistrate should have settled her VAT issues when she was appointed to the bench.  Administrative issue Legal sources said that such issues are normally settled...