2019 National Budget

In a statement, Shadow Minister and Kavieng MP, Ian Ling-Stuckey, said so much has been spent on a Port Moresby centred APEC – now was the time to deliver the policies that could tap into all of the potential benefits of APEC and distribute them throughout PNG.

The 2019 National Budget Volume 1 Economic and Development Policies states that the relief is intended to address bracket creep and also increase working incentives for low to lower-middle income earners.

The 2019 Budget states that while there is significant need to provide relief to the formal sector income earners, the cost of such relief also presents a challenge.

To strike a balance, the budget introduces a modest reduction to PIT. This includes:

i) An increase in the tax free threshold to K12, 500; and

This is among six possible reforms the Government will be investigating as part of the continuation of the Medium Term Reform Strategy in 2019.

According to the 2019 National Budget Volume 1 Economic and Development Policies, the Government says the aim of the tax will not be to discourage the use of voice and text.

It says since mobile telephony has become an important part of the consumption basket, there is an opportunity for the sector to make a further contribution to funding the country’s development aspirations.