Documents show $15.2m tax exemption granted to hotel developer

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Fresh leaked documents showed the government has granted tax exemptions totaling to more than $15.2m to a new hotel developer allowing them to import materials for Xiao’s Henderson Hotel Ltd 100% tax exemption.

The tax exemptions granted by the Minister of Finance Manasseh Sogavare was given the last day of August 2024 and expires at the end of 31^st January 2025. It’s worth $9, 487, 014. 66. In his orders, the minister in the signed letter of exemption to Ziao’s stated that it be granted 100% exemption from the liability of goods tax on its imports. The list is detailed in the exemption order signed by Sogavare.

A month earlier in on 31^st July 2024, Sogavare first granted a $5, 778, 605.13 to Xiao’s to bringing in its building materials for its new hotel. That exemption like the one awarded later will expire at the end of January 2025.

The issue of tax emptions by Sogavare had been a hotly debated subject by the public following a series of leaks of tax exemptions granted by the same minister last year.

He told the media in defending his decision to grant exemptions by stating that he had not “erred one bit” in his commitment to implement reforms on the issue.

He also stated that tax and duty exemptions are powerful strategies for driving economic growth.