SAMOA

VALUE ADDED GOODS AND SER TAX AMENDMENT

1993 No. 12

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE
1. Short Title
2. Interpretation
3. Exempt Supplies
4. Taxable periods
5. Calculation of tax payable
6. Persons making supplies in course of taxable activity to be registered
7. Offences
8. Prices to be displayed
9. Repeal of Existing Legislation

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1993 No. 12

AN ACT to amend the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Act 1992/1993

BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa in Parliament assembled as follows:

1. Short Title - (1) This Act may be cited as the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Amendment Act 1993 which shall be read together with and deemed part of the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Act 1992/1993 (hereinafter referred to as "the Principal Act").

(2) The Principal Act is hereby amended by inserting section 1A specified below immediately after section 1.

"1A. Commencement (1) The Principal Act and the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Amendment Act 1993 shall (except for section 83) come into force on the day upon which the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Amendment Act is assented to by the Head of State.

(2) Section 83 shall come into force on the 1st day of January 1994."

2. Interpretation -Section 2 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by:

(a) Omitting the definition of the term "hospital" from the section and substituting the following:

"means any hospital or institution administered by the Department of Health pursuant to the Health Ordinance 1959 in which any medical, dental, pharmaceutical or nursing services is provided and includes all clinics, dispensaries, outpatient departments, services, offices and undertakings maintained in connection with or incidental to that hospital or institution."

(b) Inserting the following terms and their definitions in their correct alphabetical place:

"Food" means food of a type suitable for human consumption.

"Produce" means produce from the activity of agriculture or aquaculture and includes any fruits, vegetables, root crops, fish or other aquatic produce.

"Raw and unprocessed state" means not yet cooked, smoked or baked; not yet processed by any mechanical or chemical means or otherwise other than through basic separation, cutting of parts, packing or freezing (not being the process of freezing through blast or snap freezing), unmanufactured; undiluted; unpounded.

3. Exempt supplies -Section 15 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by inserting paragraph (c) and paragraph (d) specified below into the section:

"(c) The supply of any food or produce grown or produced in Western Samoa, where that food or produce is in a raw and unprocessed state and where that supply is not a zero-rated supply under Section 12 of this Act.

(d) The supply of transport services by buses and taxis."

4. Taxable periods -Section 16 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by omitting section 16 and substituting the following:

"16 Taxable periods - (1) The Taxable period of each registered person shall be determined by their placement by the Commissioner in either category (A) or category (B) as specified below:

(A) Category A, with taxable periods of two months ending on the last day of January, March, May, July, September and November in any year;

(B) Category B, with taxable periods of two months ending on the last day of February, April, June, August, October and December in any year;

(2) Notwithstanding subsection 1 of this section the Commissioner may in his absolute discretion transfer a person registered under category (A) or category (B) who fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act in a special category specified as category (C).The taxable period for any person transferred by the Commissioner to category (C) shall be determined by the Commissioner who may impose a taxable period that is less in duration from those specified under category (A) and (B).

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, where any registered person dies, or goes into liquidation or receivership or becomes bankrupt, the date of that person's death, liquidation, receivership or bankruptcy as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the last day of that person's taxable period."

5. Calculation of tax payable - Section 21 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by inserting the following subsections to the section:

"(7) Where, in relation to any goods and services:

(a) The goods and services have been acquired or produced by any registered person for the principal purpose of making taxable supplies; and,

(b) A deduction for input tax has been made pursuant to Section 21(3) by that registered person in respect of those goods and services; and,

(c) The goods and services are subsequently applied by that registered person to a purpose other than the making of taxable supplies,

any such goods and services shall be deemed to be supplied by that registered person in the course of that person's taxable activity to the extent that they are so applied.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in section 10 of this Act, where the supply is deemed to be made pursuant to subsection (7) of this section the time of supply shall be deemed to be the time that the goods and services are first applied for a purpose other than in the course of making taxable supplies.

(9) Notwithstanding anything in section 11 of this Act, where the supply is deemed to be made pursuant to subsection (7) of this section the value of that supply shall be deemed to be the lesser of -

(a) the cost of those goods and services to the supplier, including any tax charged in respect of the supply of those goods and services to that supplier.

(b) The open market value of that supply.

(10) Where, no deduction has been made pursuant to subsection (3) of this section in respect of or in relation to any goods and services acquired or produced after 1 January 1994 by a registered person for a purpose other than the making of taxable supplies and any such goods and services are subsequently applied for the purpose of making taxable supplies, the Commissioner shall, to the extent to which those goods and services are so applied, allow that registered person to make a deduction under subsection (3) of this section of an amount equal to the tax fraction of that part of the lesser of -

(a) The cost of those goods and services, including the tax charged in respect of those goods and services;

(b) The open market value of the supply of those goods and services.

(11) Notwithstanding anything in section 10 of this Act, where a deduction is permitted pursuant to subsection (9) such deduction shall be made in the taxable period that the goods and services are first applied for the purpose of making taxable supplies."

6. Person making supplies in course of taxable activity to be registered - Section 47 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by omitting section 47 and substituting the following:

"47 Liability to register - (1) Subject to this Act, every person who, on or after the 1st day of January 1994 carries on any taxable activity, becomes liable to be registered.

Provided that no person shall be liable to be registered where at the end of any month the total value of their supplies made in Western Samoa for that month and the 11 months either preceding or succeeding that month do not exceed the amount the Head of State may, from time to time, declare by Order.

(2) Every person who is liable to be registered, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, shall apply to the Commissioner in the prescribed form for registration under this Act, within 21 days of becoming so liable, and provide the Commissioner with such further particulars as the Commissioner may require for the purpose of registering that person.

(3) An application for registration under this Act purporting to be made by or on behalf shall for all purposes be deemed to be made by that person or by that person's authority, as the case may be, unless the contrary is proved.

(4) Where any person has not made application pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, and the Commissioner is satisfied that person is liable to be registered under this Act, that person shall be deemed to be a registered person for the purposes of this Act with effect from the date on which that person first became liable to become registered under this Act.

Provided that the Commissioner may, having regard to the circumstances of the case, determine that such person deemed to be a registered person shall be registered from such later date as the Commissioner considers equitable."

7. Offences - Section 57 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by inserting subsection (6) as specified below immediately after subsection (5).

"6. Every registered person who fails to comply with section 70A of this Act commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $500. Any registered person who has been convicted under this subsection shall in a subsequent conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding $1000."

8. Prices to be displayed -Part XI of the Principal Acts hereby amended by inserting the following section 70A immediately after section 70:

"70(A) Prices to be displayed - (1) The price of all goods and services to which this Act applies and supplied at the retail level in Western Samoa shall be displayed as inclusive of the tax chargeable on that supply.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, where any tourism publicity material is or will be utilised outside of Western Samoa to advertise the supply of any goods and services by any registered person, the price of those goods and services may be displayed as exclusive of tax chargeable on that supply:

Provided that any publicity material that displays a tax exclusive price must clearly state that the price displayed is subject to tax."

9. Repeal of Existing Legislation -Section 83 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by inserting paragraph (d) specified below immediately after paragraph (c).

"(d) Section 18 subsection (3) and section 18A of the Income Tax Act 1974".

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