Tax reform work undertaken by the IRD has highlighted the need to have a formal tax policy work programme and standardized processes and responsibilities for developing, managing, and delivering legislative change. In November 2024, the Deputy Secretary of Economics and Commissioner of Inland Revenue agreed that the Economic Division (ED) and Inland Revenue Division (IRD) develop a formal tax policy work programme to support the efficient progress of policy proposals from the identification of policy issues through to legislative amendment.

The new government is committed to transparency through public engagement on the design of tax policy through a standardized tax policy process. It is recognized that public consultation on tax issues can play an important role in creating and sustaining a durable and widely accepted tax system. The development of a formal work programme will also help ensure there is capacity within ED and IRD to deal with not only the agreed work programme but also urgent policy issues that may arise, such as the identification of significant revenue risks.

This draft Tax Policy Work Programme contains the tax policy proposals that will be the focus of the new Government over the next 2 years (2026 – 2028). The draft work Programme prioritises proposals that streamline the work processes and responsibilities of the Economic Division and Inland Revenue in terms of developing tax policy priorities of the government.

Public consultation will occur over August and September 2026 through a series of meetings and other stakeholder engagement opportunities. Written submission can also be sent to the Committee’s contact persons via email: (Primula Kingmele (ED) – pkingmele@mof.gov.sb and Hitchen D (IRD) – HDauara@mof.gov.sb. In particular, we are interested in hearing your views on this policy work programme.

The draft work programme covers the following work streams:

1. Integrity of the tax system: This work stream protects against tax avoidance and evasion to maintain a stable and predictable tax system.
2. Modernizing and strengthening the tax system: This work stream ensures the tax system is regularly maintained and updated in response to changing technology, business practices, jurisprudence, or other factors. It also focuses on reforming the indirect tax regime by ensuring a single tax rate and a broad-based indirect tax. It aims to level the playing field for business and simplify tax rules.
3. Strengthen Domestic and international information sharing capacity: This work stream fulfils Solomon Islands’ domestic and international obligations to raise capacity to respond to shifts in the domestic and global economy.
4. Social policy: This work stream involves addressing social policy issues that may impact the well-being of Solomon islanders.
5. Other agency work: this work stream involves other agency work that aligns with Government priorities that may have tax consequences or Inland Revenue delivery implications, such as tax implications.
   
   

Once approved, the tax policy work programme will be publicly available on the IRD websites. The work programme will be reviewed every two years to ensure it reflects the Government’s priorities, is current, and ensures that any changes to the work programme are reflected in the publicly available version of the work programme.