Senate President Gaoteote Palaie declared his support for the administration bill which requires payment of taxes as prerequisite for a business to obtain or renew their business license,.
The senate president said he has wanted such a bill to be introduced to force big businesses to pay their taxes.
He said its unfair that tax collectors go after small business operators but corporations and big businesses get away with not paying their taxes.
Just before Senators voted in final reading on the bill Senator Tuaolo Fruean asked who the bill was targeting.
This was after the chairman of the Senate Budget and appropriations Committee Senator Laolagi Vaeao said that businesses who owe the government in taxes can make a payment agreement to pay any outstanding taxes by installment.
Tuaolo asked, “So businesses will be given a chance to make payments but what about individual tax payers?”
“The government expects us to pay our taxes but businesses can please themselves.”
Senate President Gaoteote then revealed that he has wanted a bill like this to force big corporations to pay their taxes
He said the bill requires all applicants for business licenses to pay their taxes before they will be issued a business license.
The same bill reduces the corporate tax rate for companies earning $650,000 per year from 44 to 34 percent and gives local tax payers who pay into a retirement plan the same tax rate as that set under the Internal Revenue Code.
All other parts of the code applicable to American Samoa are frozen at the 2000 rate.
