Parkop upset over tax rule

By DALE LUMA
THE National Capital District Commission (NCDC) is disappointed with a decision by the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) to share the goods and services tax (GST) it raises with Central, Gulf and the Motu Koitabu Assembly.
NCD Governor Powes Parkop was responding to the decision last week by the IRC Commissioner-General Sam Koim on the sharing of the GST raised by the NCDC.
Parkop said the IRC should instead distribute the Government’s share of the GST raised in the city as per a Supreme Court order (SCA 89) of 2013. He said Koim’s decision was “legally and ethically wrong”, forcing the NCDC to seek a Supreme Court injunction on Friday.
He said the Government funding of around K300 million to run the city was inadequate considering the population estimated to be more than a million.
“The needs of the city are not easy to meet,” Parkop said. “Our budget now is just K300 million.
“In 2017, it was K170 million,” Parkop said.
“For a city the size of Port Moresby, we need about K1.5 billion to provide all the essential services.
“That includes building and maintaining infrastructure to (cater for) an exploding population.”
“If we had relied on tax revenue (Internal Revenue Commission) alone through GST (goods and services tax), we would not have achieved all our outcomes in the last 10 to 14 years.”
Parkop said City Hall also relied on loans, turnkey agreements with contractors who deliver first at their cost and paid later in instalments.
In a Facebook posting last night, Koim said he had written to Parkop detailing the grounds upon which he based his decision.
Koim said he would “stand by that decision”.
“It is within NCDC’s right to go to court and seek the courts’ determination on this issue and we will explain our side of the story,” he said.
“Whether my decision is ethical, or legally and morally right, or contemptuous, are questions that the court as the independent arbiter, can determine.
“Since this issue is politically sensitive, I have declined to engage in a public debate hence will not respond nor engage paid spin doctors to make it look right.
“Myself and IRC have no parochial interest except to give adequate regard to the social purpose of the law we are compelled to administer,” Koim said.
Meanwhile, Moresby South MP Justin Tkatchenko has condemned the threat by Central Governor Robert Agarobe to halt utility services if Central’s share of the GST is not paid by the NCDC.
Agarobe issued the threat last Friday after the NCDC failed to remit Central’s 120-month share estimated to be K10 million.
“We have a leader who has threatened the livelihoods of the people (of Port Moresby) saying that he will shut down water, turn off the power and close the roads if he doesn’t get paid by the end of this month,” Tkatchenko said.
“What kind of a leader is that to threaten the people of Moresby South (to) have their water and power cut off?
“That is called domestic terrorism.”