Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says there is a tax threshold so those who are probably finding it difficult to pay that percentage of taxes are not paying taxes.
He highlighted the following concerns raised by Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry on remarks made by Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad that tax increases are “inevitable”.
Chaudhry says this is quite disturbing as any increase in taxes, more so an increase in VAT and customs duty will hit hard the lower to middle-income families as it will push up prices.
He says as things stand, poor and low-income families simply do not have the capacity to sustain any further increases in the cost of living.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad had said the Fiscal Review Committee’s task is to examine the overall setting of government fiscal policy and make recommendations on how to re-balance government revenue and spending, grow the economy and ensure government is fiscally sustainable over the next decade.
He says without significant changes to government finances, debt to GDP ratio will approach nearly 100 percent in 10 years time.
Professor Prasad says they have to find billions of dollars to invest in health, water, road, climate adaptation, energy and housing.
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