The Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association (FHTA) has welcomed the Government’s announcement to suspend the implementation of VAT Monitoring System Stage 3 until further notice.
FHTA chief executive Fantasha Lockington said they understand the importance of the Government’s efforts to manage and monitor tax systems to ensure widespread compliance in the economy.
She said they had raised its concerns initially about the implementation of the VMS to industries that were comprehensively compliant with VAT payments, and that is already very simply verifiable.
“The costs associated with the VMS implementation, including purchasing physical equipment and meeting system and software upgrade requirements were going to be a significant burden for many local businesses, even more so for SMEs.”
“Moreover, the inability to analyse the data collected by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Services raised further concerns about the usefulness of the VMS as a whole and its ultimate objectives for implementation.”
Lockington said Government’s decision to further review the need for VMS implementation and to consult with Stage 1 and Stage 2 users on their current experience will no doubt provide invaluable feedback to reinforce this review.
“Similarly, the TPOS system has faced critical teething problems that have caused frustration among taxpayers and with the widely welcomed consultations now in place to review and improve the system.”
“FHTA is encouraged by the commitment to resolving the issues where the key outcomes will include improving the ease of doing business and simplified tax processes for extensive compliance.”
