FRCA CEO Jitoko Tikolevu.
The Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority has continued its solid performance from 2013, surpassing its January 2014 target by $31.6million (m).
A total of $167.3m was collected during the period. The amount is $23.6m over January 2013 collections.
“The $31.6m variance recorded at January is about double than that seen over the last three years,” FRCA Chief Executive, Mr Jitoko Tikolevu said.
“The collections reflect sound economic climate with the 2014 GDP growth rate of 3.0%. “Our solid performance in the last two years can attributed to improved debt collection along with continued compliance activities.
“More importantly, the government’s expansionary fiscal policy stance is generating further economic activities that have translated into revenue collection.”
Summary of Revenue Collection – January, 2014
Table 1: Revenue Collections ($m)
|
Tax Type |
2014 Collection ($m) |
2014 Forecast ($m) |
Variance ($m) |
2013 Collection ($m) |
| Income Tax |
25,311,143 |
20,129,004 |
5,182,138 |
21,170,628 |
| Value Added Tax |
75,713,372 |
62,222,318 |
13,491,053 |
68,281,312 |
| Customs |
32,795,143 |
34,550,118 |
(1,754,975) |
33,620,124 |
| Others |
33,463,284 |
18,826,994 |
14,636,291 |
20,576,615 |
| Total |
167,282,942 |
135,728,434 |
31,554,507 |
143,648,679 |
“The uncollected debts and outstanding VAT refunds performance have improved slightly,” Mr Tikolevu said.
“The tax arrears level has decreased slightly, which is mainly attributed to continued effective debt collection. Arrears have fallen by over 49% from January 2013.”
Mr Tikolevu added that the revenue growth for January collections was strongly driven by the positive collections in PAYE, Domestic VAT, Government VAT and Capital Gains Tax.
“Overall, tax collection was buoyant. Indirect taxes accounted for most of the revenue collected. The January collection is about 8% of the 2014 target of $2.039billion,” Mr Tikolevu added.
“The January collection is about 2% of the annual projected GDP. The buoyancy indicates that revenue is growing faster than the GDP growth.”
VAT accounted for 45% of January collection. Domestic VAT recorded an exorbitant growth rate of 40.5% during the month.
“The increase in consumption and growth in investment, as reported by the RBF, supports the notion of increased economic activity in 2014 which should also contribute positively to revenue collections,” Mr Tikolevu said.
“We are certainly seeing signs of improved self-compliance by taxpayers. “It’s positive and showing a change in culture amongst our taxpayers.”
“However, we will ensure that strict measures are taken to ensure that fraudulent taxpayers are dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Jitoko Tikolevu
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER