Our recommendation is unfortunately, VAT will need to go up but not for the personal income tax threshold to come down.
This has been highlighted by Fiscal Review Committee Chair and prominent lawyer, Richard Naidu while speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan where he says when there is zero percent VAT on basic items, poor people pay less but so do those who earn more.
Naidu says people are saying not to increase VAT but to increase the taxes on the rich and the government will get the money they need but there are 161,000 people who file their taxes with FRCS however, 21,000 people pay personal income tax.
Source: www.fijivillage.com
