The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has collected net revenue of $1.692 billion for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, surpassing the forecast by $11.7 million or 0.7 percent.
FRCS CEO, Mark Dixon says the 2021-2022 revenue collection started relatively slow with August 2021 recording one of the lowest collections of $84.4 million since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, he says the revenue collection increased in the later months of 2021-2022 with various initiatives undertaken by the Fijian Government such as providing financial support to businesses, injecting cash into the economy through unemployment assistance schemes, reopening the international borders and other budgetary support.
FRCS says the strong revenue collections in the recent months can be attributed to the recovery of our businesses, the rebound of the tourism sector and increased confidence shown by consumers.
Dixon says consumption taxes such as Domestic VAT, Import VAT, Fiscal Duty, Domestic Excise have all been contributing to the positive revenue outcome.
FRCS says the forecast has been achieved despite an upward revision in the 2021-2022 Revised Budget by $83 million or 5.2 percent.
Dixon says compared to the 2020-2021 fiscal year, overall net collections have shown a remarkable growth by $279.6 million or 19.8 percent.
He says they ended the month of July on a very high note, recording a total collection of $186.6 million which is above the forecast by $6.4 million or 3.5 percent. The July 2022 collections have shown spectacular growth in comparison to July 2021 collections with an increase in revenue by $71.9 million or 62.6 percent.
The monthly average net revenue collections in the first 6 months of the year was $130 million which later increased to $150 million in the second half of the year.
The average monthly collection in the last quarter stood at $176.1 million.
Dixon says despite the period of recovery and slow revenue collection in the earlier months of the fiscal year, FRCS continued to release refunds promptly to assist businesses with their cash flows.
$192.8 million was released in VAT refunds for the fiscal year, exceeding the forecast by $2.3 million.
