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DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL: FLP says 9% VAT on basic food items and prescription medicine that were previously not subject to VAT; Khaiyum's BUDGET is DECEPTIVE and will hit the Fijian poor and their families

6/11/2015

6 Comments

 
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THE 2016 BUDGET IS BUDGET OF DECEPTION AND CONFUSION

"Madam Speaker, we will not ask anything of Fijian citizens that we do not demand of ourselves. The people who assess, collect and record taxes and duties must be unquestionably honest. We have been dismayed by instances of corruption uncovered recently by FICAC involving payments and favors to FRCA employees... FICAC, the FRCA Board and the Ministry of Finance will be unrelenting in rooting out corruption and in prosecuting to the fullest extent anyone who betrays the people‘s trust. We are asking people to pay their share. They must believe they can trust their government....Freight handlers who give gifts to FRCA employees if they agree to falsify customs documents could very well end up sharing a prison cell with their co-conspirator."

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"Madam Speaker, Take for example a family looking to purchase a $20,000 car. That family will now save $1,200 thanks to the lower VAT. This kind of savings can make dreams a reality for many Fijians who will now have greater purchasing power in the marketplace."

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Aiyaz Khaiyum's self-confessed Masoor Goonda is referring to Fijileaks founding Editor-in-Chief VICTOR LAL (photo insert) on his Facebook posting of 2 November 2015
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"A sum of $15.88 million is provided to fund the operations of the Independent Commissions: the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, the Accountability and Transparency Commission, Public Service Commission and the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption and Freedom of Information."

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"Madam Speaker, the Fijian people need to feel and believe that they are protected by a police force that is adequately staffed and trained and working to the highest professional standards. The budget of the Fiji Police Force has been increased by $5.8 million, to $126.3 million."

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Unprecedented Growth and Economic Performance
"Madam Speaker, the successes of 2015 have created momentum and should carry over to 2016, when we expect the economy to grow by 3.5 %, with the same industries driving that growth, and on into 2017 and 2018, when the economy is forecast to grow by 3.1 % in each year.
Indeed, Madam Speaker, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team that recently visited Fiji expressed remarkable confidence in us, and the IMF‘s forecasts are even more positive than ours.

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They called Fiji‘s growth momentum ― exceptionally strong,‖ and predicted that GDP would grow by 4.3% in 2015 and show continued momentum in 2016."


Auditor General
"The Office of the Auditor General has been allocated a sum of $4.2 million in the 2016 Budget to carry out its important function in the transparent running of Government. This increase of $143,600 over the 2015 level is to account for the increase in salary levels for audit officers. As discussed with the Auditor General, many officers leave because there are better conditions out there so there is an increase to retain their staff."

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"We have eliminated or reduced duty on many items that are very personal in nature and make a difference in the lives of Fijians. There will be no duty on sanitary pads, tampons and diapers. Duty will be reduced from 32% to 5% for baby garments, undergarments for men and women, and deodorants."

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Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation
"Government is allocating $52.2 million to the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation in 2016, including an increase of $1.2 million for the Child Protection Allowance, which is designed to help provide care for disadvantaged children under kinship care and in residential homes. That allocation is now $3.2 million, and an additional $500,000 is provided for the Child Protection Programme, which involves awareness programmes and implements the recommendations of the Convention of the Rights of the Child."

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“The imposition of 9% VAT on basic food items will now force 45% of our people who live in or on the verge of poverty to pay more for food and medicine from their meager incomes. It is a highly insensitive move against the poor who spend a large part of their income on putting food on the table for their families.” - FLP

Budget 2016 imposes 9% VAT on basic food items and prescription medicine that were previously not subject to VAT.

Denouncing the move as insensitive, Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said it is a blow to the poor.

“The imposition of 9% VAT on basic food items will now force 45% of our people who live in or on the verge of poverty to pay more for food and medicine from their meager incomes,” he said.

“It is a highly insensitive move against the poor who spend a large part of their income on putting food on the table for their families.”

“Why was it not possible to reduce VAT without hitting food and medicine?” Mr Chaudhry asked. “After all, it is VAT/GST free in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States and the UK. Why can’t it be so in Fiji?”

VAT is a uniform tax paid by all, irrespective of their incomes and penalises the poor. This is why in 1999 the Labour Government removed VAT from basic food items to provide some relief to the poor from the imposition of a 10% VAT by the Rabuka Government.

“People must understand that reconfiguring the tax net is a ploy to rake in more revenue by shifting the burden to other sectors of the economy.

In the instant case, and in the Finance Minister’s own words there will be no loss of revenue, as it will be more than recovered by making basic food items more expensive.

Indeed, he has calculated that he will net more revenue by charging VAT on basic food but needed a ploy to sell it to the people by offering a reduction elsewhere.

The doubling of STT (Service Turnover Tax) from 5% to 10% was, no doubt, conceived as another revenue boosting measure.

A host of other revenue measures – increases in existing rates of fee, charges and levies will all add to business costs which will eventually be passed on to the consumers thus pushing up prices and fuelling inflation.

Here’s how basic food costs will go up:

Item Current price Jan 2016
$ (imposition of 9% VAT)
Flour/sharps 10.45 (10kg) 11.50
Cooking Oil (Soya Bean) 2.40 (750ml) 2.65
Powdered Milk (Rewa) 5.45 (450g) 6.00
Rice (long grain) 12.64 (10kg) 13.90
Tea Leaves 2.02 (200g) 2.22
Baby Milk 8.98 (350g) 9.90

6 Comments
Dekho
6/11/2015 08:30:02 am

Look this Fiji First Theft Party Government of Con Merchant Khaiyum and his puppet Franky Cranky does not care about the people who live in or on the verge of poverty and struggle to put food on the table.
It's a government that looks after itself and its cronies.They have no trouble putting a sumptuous spread on their table at every meal.

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Vili
6/11/2015 11:51:32 am

Eh? what 'sumptuous spread'?

Batao Bayah

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And
7/11/2015 12:24:06 am

Vili don't be silly. Look up the meaning of sumptuous and you will have no problem figuring out what constitutes a " sumptuous spread".

rajend naidu
6/11/2015 09:15:22 pm

Editor,
Helen Macfarlane wrote a short and succinct letter to editor and the Sydney Morning Herald published it ( 6/11 ).
The letter reads :
" Mark Latham, get stuffed ".
Mark Latham was once the leader of the Australian Labour Party and prime minister in waiting and is now a columnist and commentator.
Now, when the media in Fiji can publish stuff like that then we can say the media in Fiji is free and independent.
I know from my conversations with many people in Fiji that they would love to say " Get stuffed " to quite a many of the current politicians in Fiji especially the mob in power.
But in Bainimarama and Khaiyum's " true democracy " in Fiji that is suicidal.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu
Sydney

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Observer
7/11/2015 11:12:28 pm

IT is funny how for every boring budget rhetoric of Khaiyum’s - is a lively, ready-made reply, speaking in splashes of color, those wonderful T4F Cartoons.

Well laid out Fijileaks…and keep doing a great job!

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Bahuki
9/11/2015 04:57:10 am

Ayarse just went way below the poverty line by hitting those living there harder than ever with VAT on basic necessities, which they may not afford to pay.

Budget forever lame, but constant thorough analysis from FijiLeaks on it....priceless and golden!

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