BY INDY MAEALASIA
MANASSEH Sogavare has defended his actions as the finance minister, reaffirming his commitment to the tax exemption reforms he promised on the floor of parliament.
Last week, the opposition accused the minister of being ‘out of control’ and pursuing personal interests in regards to a tax exemption of about $29 million granted to a foreign investor.
In response, the finance minister rejected these claims, labeling them as ‘very disturbing and insulting’ on his integrity.
He reassured citizens that he has not “erred one bit” in his commitment to implement reforms.
“The reforms that I want to pursue in the ministry are progressing very well,” he announced in a press conference Sunday.
One particular reform he is pursuing alongside the Attorney General’s Office involves drafting clauses for renegotiation with the mining companies.
Though the minister did not provide further details on the specific changes being considered, he stated that the mining companies he spoke to have no issues with the proposed amendments to the agreement.
Sogavare stated that unless these agreements are renegotiated and adopted, he is unable to approve or grant any new tax exemptions under the current agreements with mining companies.
The minister is also issuing instructions to the exemptions committee to review current recipients of exemptions to monitor how the exemptions have been used.
“Any further considerations on their applications for extension of exemption will be decided based on them submitting properly authenticated, projected, provident law statements. To establish how any further government indirect budgetary assistance will impact their operations.” Sogavare said.
Additionally, he mentioned plans to review the non-statutory exemption application form, to ensure applicants for exemptions provide adequate information to the Exemption Committee.
“The content of exemptions should be based on proper assessments of the profitability of the business and not some random figures and percentages, “he noted.
Furthermore, the finance ministry is working on strengthening the exemption committee to effectively evaluate exemption applications.
“There is a need to set up a proper continuous monitoring system on the utilization of the tax exemption,” Sogavare said.
He stressed that this reform is necessary to enable his ministry to properly report to the cabinet on the effects of the government’s indirect assistance to recipients of tax exemptions.
Sogavare said that recent discussion with the chairman of the exemption committee focused on improving government revenue.
He stated, “Cabinet will shortly consider a number of institutional and structural adjustments to improve the collection of non-tax revenue.”
Sogavare added “These will be announced as soon as Cabinet considers my memorandum and also will be announced on the floor of Parliament.”
