The Solomon Islands Acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue Ronnie Piva, says a recent review of businesses in the Ranadi area shows many were either inadvertently or intentionally ignoring their tax obligations.
Checks involving unannounced visits to business premises revealed that over half of them were not registered for income tax.
Of those that were registered a number were behind in their payments.
Mr Piva says he is concerned that so many local businesses have been operating without bothering to register for tax.
He says by operating outside the law, they expose themselves to severe penalties when they are eventually caught.
And, he warned businesses that the reviews would be extended to other areas, and urged all businesses which had not yet registered with IRD to do so immediately.
