The government will announce its revenue and expenditure policies today on which duties and taxes are going up or down and how much funding will be allocated to the different government ministries to provide services to the people of the country.
The decisions taken in the 2016 National Budget will affect everyone in the country as this will determine the level of allocations and the prices of goods and services.
Consumer Council of Fiji’s Chief Executive Officer Premila Kumar said they hope for the best as people cannot get everything they want in a budget.
Kumar is calling for the reduction of tariffs for a number of goods, and VAT can then be applied for all the items.
She said duty should be reduced on new clothes as the prices are exorbitant.
New clothes are currently charged a 32% duty plus 15% VAT.
Kumar is also calling for duty to be decreased for shaving gear, deodorants, skin and hair care products and sanitary pads.
She said most of these goods are not luxury items.
Meanwhile the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation is hoping that the government will focus on consistency of policies when it announces the 2016 National Budget today.
Chief Executive Officer Nesbitt Hazelman said some good policies have been brought in by the government over the past few years and this should continue.
Hazelman said they have asked in their submission that corporate taxes, personal taxes and VAT should remain the same.
Major concerns have also been raised that the duty and tax reductions are not passed down to consumers by the retailers.
Hazelman is concerned about this.
Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum will deliver the 2016 National Budget address in parliament at 10am today.
