Association to address tax issue

By MICHELLE AUAMOROMORO
THE Public Employees Association (PEA) of Papua New Guinea aims to do all it can to highlight the burden taxes are putting on workers in the country.
The association said it was prepared to do its own research and verification and express its concerns in a submission to the Government by March.
“We believe that this Government will hear what we will say but we also want to put them on notice that managing the economy is also managing the tax as it is taxes that is eating up the take home pay of the workers,” PNG Teachers Association general secretary Ugwailubu Mowana said.
He said PEA’s aim was to have taxes on workers reduced.
PEA general secretary Peter Toga said the Government had to start with public servants if they want to implement its “take back PNG” vision.
Toga also raised a concern that there seemed to be injustice in terms of how tax exemptions were being given to politicians but not public servants.
“If the Salaries Remuneration Commission can exempt parliamentarian allowances because the idea is that they are delivering services, my question is what services are the parliamentarians delivering to the communities?
“Are they teaching in the communities?
“Why can’t they exempt tax on the public servants?
“They are the ones who are delivering services to our people in the communities yet they don’t get tax exempted on their allowances and not even in their income,” he said.
Toga appealed to the Government to accept the submission they would give and to look into tax relief for workers.