PM: Fewer than 200,000 are registered taxpayers

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By JUNIOR UKAHA
Fewer than 200,000 people in the country are registered taxpayers, says Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
He told the National Planning Consultative Summit yesterday in Lae that the Government needed to expand its tax base to include the large number of people who were still “untaxed” so as to increase its revenue and consequently deliver on its priorities.
“The taxes we are collecting are from a very few,” O’Neill said.
“In fact, less than about 200,000 people are registered taxpayers in the country. We have to ensure that we expand the revenue and economic base of our country.
“We have to be careful with our spending. It has to be in line with the revenues we get.”
O’Neill said the Government has revisited all the resource development agreements it had signed with developers to ensure the country got a “fairer share” out of the agreements which he described as mostly “unfavourable”.
“When you look at each of the resource agreements signed, they are unfavourable to our country,” O’Neill said.
“Even the tax concessions were unfavourable compared to many parts of the world where similar agreements were signed.
“Whereas these companies are making billions and billions of kina, Papua New Guineans are making very little.
“That is why our Government has now gone back and reviewed each agreement. We want a fairer share for our resources. That’s all we want.”