As part of its continued efforts to enhance the ease of doing business in Fiji, the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) in consultation with the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF), has announced raising the financial limit for obtaining Tax Clearances to FJ$5,000 effective from 1 June 2022. However, this excludes payment for services of any amount.

Individuals and businesses will not require Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) for remittances that are valued less than FJ$5,000, except for service payments.

TCC is an official approval which confirms the amount cleared by FRCS to be remitted offshore for goods and services.

According to FRCS CEO Mr. Mark Dixon, this is a great example of FRCS listening to feedback from businesses and stakeholders and working towards improving the ease of doing business.

“This initiative is part of FRCS’s role in facilitating the growth of businesses and in improving tax systems and processes, which will positively benefit banks, businesses and individuals as it will significantly reduce the number of small transactions requiring TCC,” Mr. Dixon said.

“We would like to assure all taxpayers that we will continue to review our operational policies and practices to bring in more efficiency and improvement in our service delivery,” he said.

This positive transition by FRCS is a result of the trust that the Service has on the taxpayers that they will act responsibly and continue to fulfill their tax obligations.

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) vision and corporate strategy focuses on embarking on a transformational journey to become a world class revenue service delivering excellence in revenue collection, border protection, trade and travel facilitation.

As part of achieving this vision, representatives from the Australian Tax Office (ATO), Assistant Commissioner Ms. Belinda Darling and Director Ms. Gabrielle Jackson visited FRCS and engaged with their counterparts.

The meetings were led and facilitated by FRCS CEO Mr. Mark Dixon to discuss FRCS’s priorities for the 2022-2023 financial year, as well as the key areas that need prioritising for capacity building and partnering arrangements with Australia.

The partnership aims to build a strong and effective working relationship between ATO and FRCS to support FRCS in its work to design and implement a strong, transparent and effective tax compliance regime in Fiji.

FRCS has identified specific areas where the ATO can assist to strengthen their tax administration and some of these include:

• Improve Taxpayer Online Services;
• Support Compliance Improvement Strategy with a focus on voluntary compliance – making it easy to comply and hard not to comply;
• Support data analytics and debt management strategies;
• Automate the private ruling process.

Mr. Dixon thanked the ATO team for their visit and encouraged the senior management of FRCS to openly contribute and collaborate with the ATO so that they can understand FRCS’s technical assistance and capability building needs which will help ATO develop a detailed action plan on how FRCS and ATO can collaborate into the future.

Australia and Fiji share a strong and enduring bilateral relationship, demonstrated by the two Governments formalising the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership in 2019. The term was chosen to reflect the depth, breadth and warmth of the governmental relationship. Ms. Jackson and Ms. Darling reported that the meetings were a success and in keeping with the spirit of the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership very collaborative and hospitable.

The ATO also met with representatives from the Australian High Commission, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and other organisations based in Fiji that are relevant for the ATO’s capacity work in tax, such as Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC) and Pacific Islands Tax Administrators Association (PITAA).

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) wishes to congratulate Principal Auditor/Team Leader Mr. Tevita Tuiloa on his appointment as a Director to the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) Board.

Mr. Tuiloa is currently the Secretary for the Suva Rugby Union.  He has held this position for several years in a volunteer role and as a result of his outstanding performance, he was nominated by the Suva Rugby Union to be a Board Director of the FRU.

While congratulating Mr. Tuiloa on his new appointment, FRCS CEO Mr. Mark Dixon said FRCS is proud of Mr. Tuiloa’s great achievement.

“I am certain that Tevita will strive to move rugby in Fiji to new heights with his strong leadership qualities and his great passion and commitment for sport” said FRCS CEO Mr. Mark Dixon.

“FRCS, in line with its mission to ‘Helping Fiji Grow’, is happy to support sports in Fiji. Early this year, one of our staff represented Fiji at the Oceania Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and now we have Tevita’s appointment to FRU Board,” said Mr. Dixon.

 “I feel honored to be appointed as a Board Director for FRU and hope I can add value and improvements where needed both at a strategic and operational level. Rugby is our national sport and hopefully, we can continue to use it as a tool for nation building and improve performances both on and off the field. More importantly, continue to provide pathways for our boys and girls, men and women to earn a living through rugby,” Mr. Tuiloa said.

“I wish to thank the FRCS CEO and our Intelligence, Compliance and Investigations (ICI) team for allowing me to serve on the FRU Board, continuing our mission of “Helping Fiji Grow” through sports.

“Working at FRCS, you have a mission of helping businesses comply with tax laws and pay their taxes which in turn helps Fiji grow. Similarly, for rugby, we help rugby clubs (both men and women), players and supporters play and enjoy rugby. By doing so, they create economic activity from the hiring of grounds, transport, volunteers and meals, along with remittances sent from offshore for those contracted helping their families back home. With our Drua men and women teams, this ensures that we host more Super Rugby and test matches here in Fiji which also contributes to Tourism and the economic impacts on all Fijians,” Mr. Tuiloa added.

Mr. Tuiloa, while with Suva Rugby had been responsible for their commercial and sponsorship program together with his expertise in tournament hosting, which would add great value to the FRU Board.

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