Departure tax will be increased by 135pc

The Departure tax will be increased by 135 percent, from K30 to K114, under the Government’s revised major tax policy measures.

The revised tax will come into effect on January 1st 2017 and is one of the tax policy measures to be introduced by the Government as a revenue consolidation measure.

Departure tax is charged on ticket fares bought by passengers leaving PNG, either by air or sea, to foreign destinations.

Travel agents are then required to remit collections to IRC on the 21st day of the following month of purchases.

The Government says the Departure tax rate was not revised for the past 19 years and therefore, to align with the current economic developments and to restore its value eroded by inflation, an increase was necessary.

An estimated K20 million is expected to be generated from the tax measure in 2017.

Author: 
Cedric Patjole