Joint Media Statement on Settlement of Litigation regarding Additional Company Tax
Sam Koim, OBE, Commissioner General of the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), and Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive Officer of BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) are pleased to announce that a settlement of the Supreme Court judicial review of the PNG Government's imposition of the Additional Company Tax has been reached.
As announced in December 2022, pending the outcome of that judicial review, the amount of PGK190 million was paid by BSP into an escrow account with the Bank of PNG.
The terms of the settlement cover the whole of the amount in escrow as follows:
- PGK95m will be refunded to BSP; and
- the balance of PGK95m will be paid to the IRC in full and final settlement of the litigation concerning the imposition of the Additional Company Tax.
The settlement is conditional upon consent of the Attorney General of Papua New Guinea, the superannuation funds who formally supported the judicial review by BSP and, once those are provided, final consent of the Supreme Court of Justice of Papua New Guinea. A period of approximately a month is contemplated for these consents.
The expected financial outcome is that BSP and the IRC will each receive PGK95m in the first or second calendar quarter of 2024.
Group Chief Executive Officer of BSP, Mark Robinson, said: "I am pleased that this matter is able to be settled, and thank our relevant superannuation fund shareholders for their unwavering support of BSP. "
Commissioner General of the IRC, Sam Koim OBE, said: “The IRC is pleased to settle this outstanding tax matter with BSP and appreciates the professionalism of all parties involved in addressing this case. The Prime Minister, Hon James Marape, in his role as the Treasurer, has issued instructions for this outstanding matter to be settled and we are happy to settle this on mutually agreed terms.”
