THE Western Division has been identified as having a lot more cash transactions and black money.

While addressing members of the private sector in Nadi at the weekend, Minister for Economy and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said tax avoidance was a major issue that Government was addressing in the region.

“There has been a lot of wheeling and dealing in terms of tax avoidance, in terms of people escaping the whole system, in terms of how they pay their tax,” he said.

“I have to say the Western Division with probably Vanua Levu is where there is a lot of black money around. There is a lot of wheeling and dealing done under the table. There are a lot more cash transactions.”

He said the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority was looking into the issue.

“FRCA has done their analysis of these areas and we’ve asked them to bring in more experts from overseas to provide that kind of shock in the arm analysis to capture that segment of those tax regimes that is currently being captured,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

He explained the darker side of economic growth.

“At the same time as the economy is growing you’ll find a lot of sharks coming around to take advantage of the situation,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“Our job is to make sure that we continuously set our focus despite the fact that there is some immediate attractive investments coming we have to draw the line.

“We have to ensure the law is followed. We have to ensure that everybody is treated equally. I have to say that some local businesspeople are the ones who are sort of the main detractors of that process.

“We have to get on the same bandwagon and we all have to realise that there are no shortcuts, but the fact is the normal cut should be dealt with expeditiously.”