$1.3 billion collected through the electronic fiscal device regulation

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service since the implementation of the Electronic Fiscal Device Regulation in 2017, has 52.3 million receipts in its database with an estimated sales record of $1.3 billion.

They also recorded $100 million in gross VAT and $3.5 million in Plastic Bag Levy through the VAT Monitoring System since its inception in December 2017.

CEO Visvanath Das says compliance level for phase 1 (Supermarkets and Pharmacies) and phase 2 (Law firms, Medical Centres, Travel agencies, Accounting firms, hardware companies) still remains a challenge for them.

He says the compliance level currently stands at 82%.

Das says they have issued numerous infringement notices to companies so far, for not complying with the Electronic Fiscal Device regulation adding majority of these companies never made any attempts to install the VAT Monitoring System and did not even bother to contact them for assistance.

He adds the objective of this system is not only to have efficient and reliable software to encourage voluntary compliance but at the same time collect the revenue that is owed to the government.

Das says it also plays a broader role in alignment to the government roadmap for development of Fiji, greater financial inclusion initiatives as well as push towards a cashless economy, addressing the black money challenges.