Amendment not finalised: Vele

TREASURY secretary Dairi Vele says the amendments to the Income Tax Act 1959 have not been finalised.
Responding to questions from The National yesterday, Vele said there would be further changes made after consultation with all stakeholders.
The micro small medium enterprise (MSME) council recently posted on its Facebook page that it would look to submit a tax reform on behalf of MSMEs.
Vele, when asked by The National if the MSME council’s proposed reform would be entertained, said: “The MSME council like all other stakeholders will be consulted.
“What is currently in place and what is being proposed is a bigger article that we may need to draft together.”
Vele said the amendment would rewrite the current Income Tax Act so that it was more modern and reflected current business practices.
According to the Treasury Department, the amendment of the Income Tax Act 1959 is an important component of the Government’s medium-term revenue strategy.
It said the intention was to replace the existing act with a new modern and simplified Income Tax Act suitable for the needs of Papua New Guinea.
Treasury and the Internal Revenue Commission had been working on a draft of the rewritten Income Tax Act.
A consultation draft had been prepared with Treasury inviting submissions on it.