The Vanuatu Government says the Opposition has misled the public with its criticism of its new Debit Tax.
The Opposition leader, Willie Jimmy, says the Opposition condemns the tax as stealing from the people of Vanuatu.
Mr Jimmy says each bank withdrawal of one thousand vatu or around eight US dollars will attract a tax of ten vatu or eight US cents.
But Daniel Bangtor, the Government spokesman, says the ten vatu charge applies up to withdrawals of nine thousand nine hundred vatu.
And Mr Bangtor says amounts from ten thousand to fifty thousand will be taxed 20 vatu.
He says Mr Jimmy has misled the country sparking widrespread complaints. and the Government is going around organisations to explain that the tax is not onerous.
"mainly the working, highly paid people are complaining about this."
It is a fact that a lot of simple people who get from 20 to 30,000 vatu a month, they don't make a lot of withdrawals within a month. It's the highly paid people who are complaining. Surely they can be reasonable by adopting an attitude that they have a duty towards the un-working population.
Daniel Bangtor.
The Opposition is planning a vote of no-confidence in the Government over its economic moves, including the Debit Tax.
