A 31-year-old female who tipped the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA) of a company that indulged in an unethical practice by evading Customs Tax and Duties received $22,511 cash payout by FRCA yesterday.

The information provided by her through the FRCA Whistleblower Policy led to the successful recovery of more than half a million dollars in Customs Duty and VAT.

This payment was in accordance with the FRCA Whistleblower Policy and the Whistleblower legislative provision in the FRCA Act.

“A whistle blower that provides information or documents to the authority contributing significantly to the success of the investigation and prosecution by the Authority shall be entitled to up to 10 per cent of the tax revenue recovered as a monetary reward,” FRCA acting chief executive officer, Visvanath Das said.

She provided valuable information to the Authority and it was ascertained that a well-established Suva based company evaded Custom duties and VAT.

“Whilst we have imposed severe penalties and fines for tax offenders, people need to understand the importance of voluntary Tax compliance and our civic duty of paying taxes.

“FRCA is committed to implement processes for ease of doing business in Fiji, however, this comes with much trust and honesty on the part of businesses to be voluntarily compliant,” Mr Das said.

“FRCA introduced the Whistle Blowing Policy and with the support of the Government has introduced legislative provisions in the FRCA Act relating to the protection and reward of whistleblowers.

“This is to encourage individuals to come forward and provide information in the effort to detect tax or customs fraud against the government. Some fraudulent cases are complex in nature and takes time and effort to detect.

“Given our limited resources, this partnership approach between members of the public and FRCA complements our Tax and Customs compliance efforts in monitoring and identification of these fraudulent activities.

“Therefore, through the whistle blowing policy, we offer rewards to individuals who come forward with evidence of tax and customs fraud against the government”, Mr Das said.

“If you have evidence of a business or taxpayer committing Tax or Customs fraud, or any unprofessional conduct by FRCA officers, you are encouraged to report through our 24/7 – FRCA Whistleblower hotlines – 3243222, 3243666 or 6626777 or email directly to ceo@frca.org.fj and potentially receive a monetary reward as a whistleblower.

“We treat all information as absolutely confidential.

“FRCA officers are required to act with integrity at all times in providing tax and customs services to our customers, we expect our taxpayers to fulfill their tax and customs obligations likewise.”

Source: Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority

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