New Ireland remits over K1mil tax to Govt

MORE than K1 million has been remitted by the New Ireland government as goods and services tax (GST) to the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC).
According to a statement from the provincial government, this was done in compliance with the IRC’s Section 65A Notice on GST.
It had withheld K1,221,234.90 from service providers and companies this year as the GST.
The New Ireland government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IRC in 2018, following a provincial executive council decision to increase revenue internally as the province move towards financial autonomy.
The chief executive officer of finance and planning was tasked to coordinate the GST collection.
“The New Ireland government had withheld 10 per cent GST payments from service providers.
“From the opening of our accounts in May 2021 to October, we withheld K1,221,234.90 from service providers or companies.”
A discussion on the withholding notice was held with IRC commissioner general Sam Koim in June.
“The initiative is to collect GST at source starting with Government departments and State-owned enterprises (SOEs),” Koim said.
“Suppliers to Government departments and SOEs are recipients of tax and are expected to be the first to comply.
“However this has not been the case.”