Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad says the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service collected around $150 million more than forecast over the past one and a half years.
While speaking during the review of the FRCS report for 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, Professor Prasad says that in the 2023–2024 financial year, FRCS achieved 99.6 percent of its tax revenue budget target.
He says in the 2024–2025 budget, revenue collection exceeded projections by about $150 million.
Professor Prasad also highlighted that the 2020–2021 period was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which served as both a crisis and an opportunity.
He says the pandemic allowed the government to assess existing systems and structures and implement several strategies aimed at ensuring FRCS evolves into a more agile, efficient, and effective organisation.
Opposition Member, Premila Kumar says that several gaps were identified, firstly, tax compliance and enforcement remain patchy, particularly in the informal sector and in the emerging digital economy.
Kumar stated that sharper tools, stronger audits, and smarter enforcement are needed to address this issue.
She says that customs clearance delays continue to hurt trade, with bottlenecks at the border leading to higher costs, slower turnaround times, and lost opportunities, which she described as unacceptable.
Kumar also highlighted that FRCS must work more closely with other agencies to speed up these processes.
She adds there is a need for better performance measurement, saying that while annual reports show what FRCS has done, they do not always demonstrate the impact of those actions.
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