The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) collected a net revenue of $190 million in November, exceeding the month’s forecast by $7.9 million or 4.3 per cent.
This represents a higher collection of $79m in comparison to the revenue collections of November 2021.
Four months into the current fiscal year, FRCS has recorded a total collection of $767.2 million with a positive variance of $22.1 million over the cumulative forecast.
Comparative to the four months of last financial year, FRCS has recorded an impressive growth of $330.3m or 76 per cent.
Chief executive Mark Dixon attributed the considerable increase in revenue to the impressive rebound of the economy with all key sectors showing a resurgence.
“The remarkable increase in revenue collection against last year by 76% as well as against our forecast exhibits the consistent recovery and economic growth across all key sectors of the economy.”
He added that the favorable collection is linked to a strong recovery across the major tax streams including the Value Added Tax, Income Tax and Customs Taxes.
The positive revenue collection for November 2022 is attributed to the following tax types:
– PAYE (Pay As You Earn) Tax recorded an increase of $3.4m indicating improvement in the labor market, both in the formal and informal sectors.
– Corporate Income Tax (CIT) surged by $11.3m compared to November 2021 showing growth in business confidence and improvement in the investment environment.
– Domestic VAT recorded a growth of $26.1m stemming from increased disposable incomes, inward remittances, and higher tourism-related spending.
– Increase in trade volume attributed to the $22.7m increase in Import VAT collections.
As Fiji celebrates the first anniversary of the re-opening of the international border, the Departure tax collections have been very symmetrical to tourist arrivals.
Four months into the 2022-2023 fiscal year, FRCS has collected $19.8m, while collection for the same period last year stood at $0.3m.
FRCS envisages that the revenue projections for future months will continue in a similar trajectory.
