IRC: K1.28bil collected

THE Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) has collected K1.28 billion in revenue for the first half of this year, commissioner-general Sam Koim says.
Koim said in spite of Papua New Guinea’s economy being impacted by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War, the IRC recorded extra collection, exceeding its half-year target.
“This historic collection is a result of the transformation of the revenue authority,” he said.
Koim said as per the 2022 National Budget, IRC was expected to collect K10.509 billion, which was 9.5 per cent (K913 million) higher than the actual revenue collection from the last financial year.
“The collections for the first six months of this year were projected to be around K4.690 billion, factoring in two of the three provisional taxes to be collected in the year’s second half,” he said.
“The total tax revenue collected for the first half of 2022 is K5.945 billion.
“This is K1.28 billion (21 per cent) above the 2022 projections and K2.28 billion (38 per cent) above the 2021 corresponding period.
“All tax types performed very strongly compared to the 2021 corresponding period, signaling a rebound from the Covid-19 downturn period.”
Koim said the IRC recorded a successful first half of 2022, driven by positive strategic interventions and increased oil prices.
He said the IRC had a vision to become a robust, modern and efficient tax administrator by 2025.
“The IRC believes that without improving the organisation’s overall health, it cannot perform optimally as a revenue authority; hence, it has initiated 32 major projects to transform the organisation,” he said.
“Based on the improved trend of collections since 2019, IRC is conservatively optimistic about beating this year’s revenue target by at least a billion kina.”
Koim said while remaining optimistic, IRC was also accommodating the Marape Government’s recent tax reliefs to address the rising price of fuel and other goods and services.