The Togiola Faoa administration is proposing a two-percent hike on the excise tax for juice imports and a one US cent tax on imported bottled water to pay the 6.6 million US dollar court ruling against the government for the Laufou Shopping Center Fire.
Both imported juice and water is presently taxed a five percent duty.
The taxes are included in a new bill that the government submitted for review during a special Fono session.
In July of last year, the High Court ruled that the American Samoan government was liable for losses from the Laufou Shopping Center Fire and ordered that the government pay Progressive Insurance 6.6 million dollars plus annual interest rate of six percent.
In the last Fono session, the House approved the bill but the Budget and Appropriations Committee never reported the bill for second reading.
