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Fiji’s tax department has received a number of enquiries into tax incentives offered in the area of renewable energy, a sign that interest in this area is growing.
Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority National Manager Policy, Economic Modeling and Research Fazrul Rahman said the government has in place a number of “bold and targeted tax incentives” to attract business in the production of renewable energy in Fiji.
“We do have five year tax holidays for companies undertaking renewable energy projects. A number of companies have visited FIRCA and we had seen interest being shown to enjoy this incentive.
“That particular five year tax holiday also comes with duty concessions. If you want to go to wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, whatever…the duty element that you get there will be zero and those are basically on the equipments,” he said.
Also on offer is a 100 percent accelerated depreciation for water storage facilities in renewable energy, “so whatever you want to purchase, that is for water storage facilities and renewable energy, 100 percent of such cost you can claim as accelerated depreciation.”
In the area of biofuel production, there is a 10 year tax holiday, provided an investor puts in a minimum of F$1 million and employs at least 20 local people.
“If you are in the biofuel business and you want to invest, you can also be given duty free on plant and machinery, as well as the chemicals that you need for your bio fuel production,” he added.
Rahman was speaking at the joint Fiji-Australia Business Council/Australia-Fiji Business Council meeting at the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa on Monday.
The Fiji government is encouraging energy production through renewable sources as mineral fuel chews up a huge chunk of its foreign earnings every year.
