Business

FRCS surpasses 2021-22 annual revenue target

August 5, 2022 4:30 pm

Mark Dixon. [Source: Supplied]

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has collected net revenue of $1,692.6m for the 2021-22 fiscal year, surpassing the forecast by $11.7m or 0.7%.

Chief Executive, Mark Dixon says the forecast has been achieved despite an upward revision in the 2021-22 Revised Budget by $83m or 5.2%.

Dixon adds compared to the 2020-21 fiscal year, overall net collections have shown a remarkable growth by $279.6m or 19.8%.

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He says the FRCS ended July on a very high note, recording a total collection of $186.6m which is above the forecast by $6.4m or 3.5%.

Last month’s collections have shown spectacular growth in comparison to July 2021 collections with an increase in revenue by $71.9m or 62.6%.

Dixon says the 2021-22 revenue collection started relatively slow with August 2021 recording one of the lowest collections of $84.4m since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Revenue forecast. [Source: Supplied]

However, he says the revenue collection increased in the later months with various initiatives undertaken by the Fijian Government such as providing financial support to businesses, injecting cash into the economy through unemployment assistance schemes, re-opening the international border and other budgetary support.

He stated the monthly average net revenue collections in the first six months of the year was $130m which later increased to $150m in the second half of the year.

The average monthly collection in the last quarter stood at $176.1m.

Dixion 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 our consumers.
Consumption taxes such as Domestic VAT, Import VAT, Fiscal Duty, and Domestic Excise have all been contributing to the positive revenue outcome.

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 says Dixion.

The Chief Executive highlights $192.8m has been released in VAT refunds for the fiscal year, exceeding the forecast by $2.3m.