IRC shifting focus to GST
THE Internal Revenue Commission wants to make goods and services tax (GST) as its number one tax revenue earner.
IRC commissioner-general Sam Koim said currently salaries and wages taxes (SWT) were the top revenue collection with more than K3 billion collected in 2020.
“GST means that the entire population is participating,” he said during the launch of the IRC annual plan in Port Moresby yesterday.
“At the moment, SWT is the number one revenue earner for the Government and it has K300 million extra last year that pushed us to exceed the target of K2.7 billion.
“If we try to reduce it now, it would be suicidal.
“We do not have the cash to support the budget.
“But what we are doing now is to create enough fiscal space, create enough revenue, everything that needs to be collected, closing the tax gap of what we are suppose to collect and what we are actually collecting.
“So our aim is to make sure that the country shares the burden of funding this country, not only the working class.
“So GST is the broad base tax, the tax that the whole entire country participates.
“We would like to collect at every point of sale, in shopping centres.
“We will be introducing a monitoring system.
“We would like to collect GST at every cash register by year’s end the GST component will come straight to IRC.”
Koim said the IRC would also profile and monitor practices by certain retail businesses that saw them avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
He said the aim was to make GST the country’s number one revenue earner and once all were paying their required taxes the Government could then look at reducing tax in other areas such as salaries and wages.
15 comments
This is why workers are still poor after working for a long time. Salary and wages tax is the easiest way of revenue collection for IRC.
Big corporations are laughing all the way to the banks while the poor people of this country are suffering. Good on you IRC.
Country has to progress, considering the factors enough, is sufficient to indicate itself for a move for betterment of the country png.
Foster, I totally agree with you. Big Corporations and table mamas/papas, buai sellers and street sellers pay next to nil tax which the poor 100,000 formal workers are taxed heavily in their salary and wages tax.
That’s the way forward good one commissioner..
Government must tap in the areas of self sustainable activities such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, etc to boost its revenue rather than focusing on tax as a major source of government revenue alone. Workers are becoming slaves in their own land due to unnecessary tax points. Apart form the wages and salaries tax, the workers also pay GST on every good and service they purchase. The wages and salaries tax need to be reduced because the same workers are heavily taxed again on goods and services they purchase on daily basis and continue to pay tax through these means. The government is indirectly ripping from its citizens very badly by imposing unnecessary tax on the citizens. The government must readjust and try to look into other potential sources to generate money rather than heavily focusing on tax as a major source of government revenue.
About time. .Please register all the tills and monitor their daily takings so they can pay what is rightfully due to the State. Far too long SWT has always been the number 1 revenue source for the Government.Other means and ways must be explored so SWT can be reduced in the future to allow the little people enjoy their hard earned case.
The government must reduce the SWT as the main revenue stream. They must try and open their eyes that people are suffering when too much is deducted. Gst is abit ok because it remains consistent as 10%
Ah IRC IRC, mi Ken tingim yupla sa rausim almost K3000 lo salary blo mi every month lo tax. Thank you IRC, working in PNG and I suffered enough of your tax imposed on my salary each payday, and at the end of the day, I still travel up and down the bumby Jimi Highway, with your public service mechinery non functional, yet getting paid on my tax and your MPs and government departments heads on fat salary packages and non productive. I now enjoy a tax free salary working abroad. Now upla Kam tasim salary blo sapos yupla fit.
IRC must work harder and collect all taxes required under the laws of this country. Look seriously into areas of Mining, Logging, Fishing industries, Retail industries, and collect every kina required to be collected under the law. Look also into the SME sector, and ensure that they are also paying taxes. Look also into the informal sector, there’s so much money floating around in the informal sector, find ways on how to collect Tax from them as well. Since, those in the informal sector are also users/beneficiaries of infrastructures put up by the government using funds from few faithful tax payers. We should go with this thinking that ALL KINDS OF INCOME MUST BE TAXED IN THIS COUNTRY. Only then, the country will have at least enough money in support to run this country.
So that means the employees will continue to pay double tax which is not fair. Even at retirement our government doesn’t do anything to help our overtaxed work force. Other Countries provide services like aged care homes etc.
Checked my payslip 5 days ago and saw that 32% of it has been taxed. When I add 10% of GST, the total goes up to 42%. That is half the pay gone. Now i have a K1000.00 fortnightly rental to pay, K200.00 lunch and bus fare for three kids for 10 days, K500.00 food for 2 weeks, K100.00 power bill for 2 weeks and K100.00 bus fare and flex cards for 2 weeks. The cost excludes school fees, stationaries, clothes, etc, as this is the beginning of school year. This is financially suffocating for a young working family man. Please Mr Koim safe us, the tiny working population. The reported move is a welcome news. Please make it happen soon. Hope and faith in you, Mr Koim.
The almost K3b is quite a lot of money from the poor tax payers pocket. What are shame for IRC and the gov. Daylight robbery.
Why is the Company tax lower than the S&W taxes no wonder our population is struggling to put food on the table because you are breaking everyone’s back. You need to step up on all those foreign entities who are milking this country dry. Please also provide how much you collect in terms of company tax as well.
Sam and team,
This is wisdom. Its a huge task and but excellent initiative . with Gods grace, you remain in IRC and push on to get this approach to the end. In directly, you are putting extra food on someone’s dinner plate .You will be blessed for helping the hundreds and thousands of families by saving a toea . SWT is killing the minority of working population of this country by paying both. GST is really the way to go , totally agree to this approach ,it is broad base and fair and those in power to approve and fund this plan to become reality.
I dont agree with when governments take the option of making its citizens to bear too much burden to fund its budget. Why not looking at other revenue options instead of taxation on priority list. Our tax policy supposed to be equitable and justifiable. My suggestions would be, Creating more employment opportunities for citizens to get involved, effectively monitoring MNC tax remittance processes, doing more downstream processing in PNG, efficiently managing of our resources revenues, effective public debt management and foreign own entities supposed to follow corrupt free operational practices. IPA, IRC, Customs, NGCB, and all other other revenue generation government entities must work to serve the nation and its future generation.
Additionally, that does not mean we create an unfriendly business environment, however, we focus on building our people thru putting sufficient money into their pockets.
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