Previous Story
3Q collection eyed for rebate payouts
|
Posted on Jul 01 2004
The government hopes that the remaining unpaid tax rebates can be cleared by August, according to Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente.
Benavente said yesterday that as of two weeks ago, some $6 million in 2002 rebates have yet to be disbursed. However, he said he is “hopeful” that funds will be available to pay for the remaining balance.
He pinpointed the upcoming third quarter tax collection for Fiscal Year 2004 at the end of next month as the source of funds.
“I am hoping that the third quarter collection in July would be enough to pay off the balance of the 2002 rebates,” he said.
Only then, Benavente said, will the disbursement of 2003 rebates begin.
“After clearing the 2002 rebates, we will immediately begin with the 2003 rebates. We have to pay the 2002 first,” he said.
A total of $20 million in rebates were filed for 2002, with about $14 million already paid out, leaving the government an outstanding obligation of about $6 million.
“Several rebates were prioritized due to emergency reasons,” according to Benavente.
The Saipan Tribune tried to contact Finance Department acting secretary Fermin Atalig, but was told he was at a meeting.
Earlier, press secretary Peter A. Callaghan said issuance of checks are occurring almost every non-government payday Friday, depending on the financial obligation of the government.
At the time, Callaghan assured the release of checks will continue, except in cases where the Finance Department has to meet large cash disbursements, like vendor payments, which means certain batches may be delayed by a few days. He said the government is setting aside $2 million each month from revenue collections to be able to pay for the rebates.
The original projected time period for complete disbursement was between June and July.
The Department of Commerce indicated in its 2004 first quarter report that the CNMI received some $52.72 million in tax collection.
According to the Department of Finance, the CNMI government collected only $107.3 million in the first seven months of fiscal year 2004, which is way below the $213 million projected by the department for the entire fiscal year.
