PPL ‘trade-off’ K105mil in tax

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
A debt-swap arrangement between the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) and the PNG Power Ltd has facilitated the payment of K105 million in outstanding taxes, according to commissioner-general Sam Koim.
He told The National that the payment made last month was the first one made under the arrangement. It is to recover payments owed to the IRC by taxpayers.
“As part of the new strategy, the IRC managed to collect K105 million owed to us by PNG Power in taxes,” Koim said.
“This is the first successful case using this arrangement. We are cognizant of times like this when businesses are facing challenges in settling their dues, especially legacy of tax issues.
“We introduced this strategy especially for taxpayers.
“If Government entities owe us money, then we do a trade-off using this arrangement.
“For this (PNG Power) case, the Government settled its bill, and then PNG Power settled its bill, its outstanding tax payments, with the IRC. It is a good strategy to write off tax debts.
“We are hoping to do the same with other struggling SOEs or taxpayers owing us dues.”
Koim made the statement following Prime Minister James Marape’s statement in Parliament yesterday on the status of PNG Power as a government business entity.
Marape said the Government was aware that PNG Power was struggling to provide reliable and quality electricity services to its consumers, and producing positive financial reports as a business entity.
He said part of the reason PNG Power was not performing well financially was because it was owed a substantial amount of money by consumers.