More revenue for Customs

By PETER ESILA
THE revenue earned by PNG Customs in the first half of the year is more than expected, because of the strict monitoring at the border of the importation of illegal goods, says chief commissioner David Towe.
Revenue collection of July 30 was at K52.82 million, of which, K30.29 million was transferred to the Government’s account and K22.53 million to the Internal Revenue Commission.
He attributed the excellent result to the good work by Customs officers in controlling the borders.
Top of their list was the clampdown on the illegal cigarette trade.
The British American Tobacco (BAT) last month thanked Customs for controlling the illicit cigarette trade, saying it would be paying about K30 million extra in tax return as a result.
“This illegal tobacco issue started 15 years ago when the tax on tobacco increased,” Towe said.
“It created that environment for illicit cigarette to come in.
“Tax increased but, at the same time, enforcement at the border did not increase to stop the illegal traffic.
“So what happened was that when the tax increased, it created the environment for the non-tax paid segment to take advantage of that increased tax environment. It continues to increase up to a stage it went up to at least 30 per cent of the market.”
Towe said the Government was losing about K100 million in revenue on an annual basis from the sale of illegal non-taxed tobacco.
“This year, we have been able to control the importation of illegal products. The brands of illegal non-tax products that used to be on the market are no longer there,” he said.
Towe said BAT sales had exceeded their projections.
He said the first 6 months tax return projections would go about 50 per cent once reviewed.
He said once the figures were revised, “we will be (making) more than 50 per cent (in revenue)”.
“The numbers are based on the initial projections,” he said.
“We have done extremely well, now that we have closed all the points of leakages.”