14 Mar 2005

Tongan government awards tax relief to avoid double taxation

7:33 am on 14 March 2005

The Tongan government has granted a concession to businesses when the so-called consumption tax comes into force next month.

The finance ministry says merchants will be given relief from ports and services tax for stock-on-hand on the first of April.

The finance minister says there's been confusion about whether relief would be available.

The consumption tax will supersed other taxes such as sales, fuel and ports and services tax.

The ministry says it wants to make sure that goods purchased before the new tax comes into effect won't get double-taxed, and to avoid any inflation.