No change to income tax: PM

PRIME Minister James Marape has refuted rumours that a tax increase was accepted by his cabinet in Parliament.
Addressing reporters this week, the prime minister said Parliament did not approve any tax changes and he was not aware of any report for an increase, particularly, in the income tax.
“The only substantial change is for us entrancing that K20,000 is the new level on non-taxable income, where it will benefit more than 100,000 small wage earners in our country,” he said.
“It used to be K12,500 a year ago but, because of the tough times our people are going through, we decided to make a temporary uplift to K20,000 and this time around, we decided to make it permanent so the K20,000 level is now where the tax calculations come in.
“We configured that all of us, our tax calculations start at K20,000, meaning that from this time on from last year when this came into place, every Papua new Guinean would be taking home a little bit extra K40, K50, K60 depending on your income.
“For those at the higher salary level, in my view, the rate remains.
“The rate has been that same rate for the past 20 years, if not 50 years,” Marape said.
In 2021, the prime minister had advised Treasury to uplift the tax threshold to K20,000 putting more emphasis on the goods and services tax (GST).
“When I was advising Treasury two years ago to uplift the tax threshold, some in Treasury did not believe me.
“I convinced them to look into the GST space.
“Let me give assurance to all Papua New Guineans that when we all grow the economy together, in time, our tax will come down, so people can spend more in the economy.
“So, I want to let everyone know that the three fundamental everyday tax in the economy remains the same,” he said.