Photo: Governor of the Gulf province, Hon Chris Haiveta, MP 6th from the right beside the Commissioner General of the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), Ms Betty Palaso amid officials of the Gulf province and IRC.
The Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Gulf Provincial Government which seeks to enhance revenue collection in the Province through improved partnership between the parties, a press release said today (May 18).
Commissioner General of Internal Revenue Commission of PNG, Ms Betty Palaso met with the Governor for Gulf, Chris Haiveta together with the Gulf Provincial Administrator Mr. Marc Orisuru Avai and other Provincial Government Officials in Kerema Town for the signing last Friday May 11, 2018.
The scope of the MOU covers the co-operation between the Provincial IRC Office and the Provincial Government to work together to identify business houses operating in the Province to ensure that they comply with the tax laws and pay their fair share of taxes. The potential for growth in economic activity in the Province in light of projects such as the Papuan LNG further stressed the importance of improving the presence and capability of the IRC to collect revenue in the Province.
It also encompasses administrative and logistical support to enable IRC officers on the ground to do their job efficiently. The MOU further makes provision for training support in terms of proper budgeting and accounting of revenue in the Province.
Ms Palaso said that the IRC would be rolling out this initiative to all other Provinces as part of the Government’s Medium Term Revenue Strategy 2018 – 2022 aimed at broadening the tax base and increase the number of SME’s in the tax system and supporting Provinces to build capacity to generate their own internal revenue.
The IRC Provincial Office in Kerema has been closed for some time and the signing of the MOU will complement plans to re-open and resource the office with the support of the Provincial Government.
The signing was part of bigger event hosted by the Governor and the Provincial Government in front of a packed crowd who witnessed the signing of MOU’s between the host and various other Government agencies including the National Development Bank, Department of Agriculture, Cocoa Board and the National Museum & Archives.
The Commissioner General acknowledged the presence of the other Government agencies and highlighted the importance of the services they would provide to the people of Gulf in terms of assisting in the set-up of small to medium businesses especially in agriculture, which will in turn generate increased revenue collections for the Province in terms of goods and services tax collected by the IRC.
Source: Press Release
