Reacting to the current economic slump, businesses have reduced their orders to ensure lean inventories, resulting in less excise taxes for the government.<\/p>\n
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Charles V. Cepeda said that this trend was noticeable in the excise tax collection during the first six months of fiscal year 2006.<\/p>\n
He said the excise tax collection has been under the $2 million level, with the exception of November 2005 and February 2006.<\/p>\n
Chamber data showed that in October 2005, excise tax totaled $1.9 million; it was $2.1 million in November, and $1.7 million in December.<\/p>\n
In January this year, excise tax collection was further down at $1.6 million.<\/p>\n
In February, it was up at $2.1 million, but in March, it went down to $1.8 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows the instability as a result of what\u2019s happening around us. Businesses are still in a wait-and-see mode,\u201d said Cepeda.<\/p>\n
The excise tax is a government fee imposed on imported goods. It varies, depending on the type of goods.<\/p>\n
For instance, an excise tax on a carton of cigarette totals $17.50, $1.75 per pack or 18 cents per stick.<\/p>\n
For beer, a $6.75 excise tax is imposed per case.<\/p>\n
Excise tax on soda is much less at $2.50 per case.<\/p>\n
The Department of Commerce earlier reported a simultaneous drop in revenue sources during the first quarter of the year.<\/p>\n
Commerce data said that garment sales plunged by 29 percent compared with the same period last year, while the CNMI business gross revenue went down by 6.7 percent.<\/p>\n
Likewise, the government’s general revenues from taxes and fees dropped by 13 percent during the same period.<\/p>\n
In its January to March 2006 Economic Indicators report, the Commerce Department said that garment sales totaled $125.8 million. During the same period last year, garment exports were valued at $177.6 million. That’s a drop of $51.8 million.<\/p>\n
The government statistics also showed that business gross revenue decreased by 6.7 percent. From $539.4 million during the first quarter of 2005, the figure went down to $503.2 million this year. <\/p>\n
The government, meantime, collected $48.68 million in taxes and fees during the first three months this year, which is 13 percent lower than the same period last year. <\/p>\n
The decline in revenues is attributed mainly to the abrupt pullout of Japan Airlines in October 2005 and the continued downsizing within the garment industry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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