Fiji’s Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) collected a cumulative net revenue collection of $2.285 billion for the financial year 2022-2023, not only surpassing the initial forecast by 1.5% but also exceeding the previous year’s revenue by 35%.
In a statement, FRCS acting CEO Malakai Naiyaga said the amount collected comes on the back of a healthy July revenue collection.
During that month, FRCS recorded net revenue of $213.9 million, surpassing the monthly forecast by 11.8%, with the Value Added Tax (VAT) collection accounting for $1.0 billion or 43.9% of the total, income taxes contributing $623.9 million or 27.2%, and trade taxes followed closely with a significant contribution of $472.7 million or 20.6%, while other taxes & levies contributed $188.8 million or 8.2% to the tax mix.
Naiyaga said that the revenue achievement mirrors the earlier-than-anticipated overall economic recovery, underpinned by the consistently strong performance in sectors like Services, Wholesale & Retail Trade and Manufacturing.
“The positive variances observed in both the monthly and the annual collection point towards a significant overall economic recovery compared to a year ago. This recovery can be attributed to various factors, such as the services sector benefitting from increased tourism activity, higher income taxes paid by companies based on improved turnover and profits, and the pent-up consumer demand leading to increased VAT collections. These factors collectively contribute to the economic upturn, reflecting a positive trend across different sectors and fiscal aspects of the economy,” Naiyaga said.
Looking ahead, Naiyaga said the revenue performance has set a good platform for the new 2023-2024 fiscal year noting the $3.1b revenue target.
