At the same time it is desperate for money, the American Samoa Government has revealed it has written off 19 million US dollars in receivables that cannot be collected.
The Treasurer, Falema'o Dr. Phil Pili, has told the Chamber of Commerce the debt will be written off because the government cannot trace the debtors.
After accusations from chamber members, the manager of the Tax Office, Melvin Joseph, confirmed the government wasn't auditing and going after companies that weren't paying taxes.
He says for the last six years they couldn't hire new auditors and collection agents because of a hiring freeze.
Mr Joseph says the Tax Office is only now starting to increase staff.
