Govt to pay $506m for film tax rebate, Walesi, USP dues, FRA’s liabilities and backdating CGT – Kamikamica

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, SMEs and Communications, Manoa Kamikamica has revealed that the FijiFirst Government has handed a bill of $506 million to the people of Fiji and the Coalition Government through film tax rebate, Walesi, USP dues, FRA’s liabilities and backdating capital gains tax.

While speaking in support of the 2023-2024 National Budget, Kamikamica says he will formally lodge a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General for an investigation where he alleges that the former Minister of Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was misleading Parliament with regards to film tax rebates as it was never in any budget since the rebates were being paid until this year.

He says the FijiFirst Government handed the Coalition Government an outstanding bill of about $178 million owing to movie companies entitled to rebates.

Kamikamica says as a result, for the next 4 to 5 years, they will be paying out $40 million a year to make good on this colossal muck up.

He says the Walesi investigation is ongoing but again, it is a mess and they have asked for some additional resources to complete the investigation. The Deputy Prime Minister says if this year’s $8 million allocation is taken into account, they would have spent $136 million on Walesi.

He says the true cost of Walesi was never fully disclosed in parliament.

Kamikamica further says Fiji owed $80 million to USP before the People’s Coalition took over and this is now being repaid where $20 million is provisioned in the current budget.

He also says $40 million is set aside in this budget to pay for the liabilities the Fiji Roads Authority has incurred.

While calling it the crime of the century, Kamikamica says backdating capital gains tax to benefit or exempt certain individuals is totally unacceptable and according to the Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad, $70 million has been lost in revenue.

He says he guarantees that this half a billion will grow and by the time we reach the end of the year, there will be a larger number to report in parliament.

The Deputy Prime Minister has also confirmed that the investment pipeline both foreign and domestic in Fiji is $4.25 billion and growing.

He says this represents 179 active projects in Fiji from the private sector alone excluding major public sector investments that are being planned.

Kamikamica further says their plan is to launch at least 1 new industry a year in Fiji and reboot existing export opportunities.

He says new emerging industries such as medicinal cannabis looks promising while nutraceuticals such as kava tablets and juices, cosmetics, the cocoa industry, ginger, turmeric, mahogany, and noni or commonly known as kura are industries of focus.