$19.8m departure tax collection

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AS the tourism sector celebrated the first anniversary of the re-opening of the international border, the tax authority said it collected $19.8 million in departure tax for the four months into the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Fiji Revenue and Customs Service chief executive Mark Dixon said departure collection for the same period last year stood at $0.3m.

Mr Dixon revealed that the FRCS had collected a net revenue of $190m for November, exceeding the month’s forecast by $7.9 million or 4.3 per cent.

He said the collection represented a higher collection of $79 million in comparison with the revenue collections of November 2021.

In a statement, Mr Dixon said the considerable increase in revenue was because of the impressive rebound of the economy with all key sectors showing resurgence.

“The remarkable increase in revenue collection against last year by 76 per cent as well as against our forecast exhibits the consistent recovery and economic growth across all key sectors of the economy,” Mr Dixon said.

He said the favourable collection was linked to a strong recovery across the major tax

Graphics:

FIJI REVENUE

AND CUSTOMS SERVICE streams including the value added tax, income tax and customs taxes.

Meanwhile four months into the current fiscal year, FRCS recorded a total collection of $767.2m with a positive variance of $22.1m over the cumulative forecast.

“Comparative to the four months of last financial year, we have recorded an impressive growth of $330.3m or 76 per cent,” he said.

The positive revenue collection for November 2022 is attributed to the following taxes:

■ PAYE (Pay As You Earn) Tax recorded an increase of $3.4m indicating improvement in the labour market, both in the formal and informal sectors;

■ Corporate Income Tax (CIT) surged by $11.3m compared to November 2021 showing growth in business confidence and improvement in the investment environment;

■ Domestic VAT recorded a growth of $26.1m stemming from increased disposable incomes, inward remittances, and higher tourism-related spending; and

■ Increase in trade volume attributed to the $22.7 million increase in Import VAT collections.

FRCS envisages that the revenue projections for future months will continue in a similar trajectory.