What to know
A resort or a cafe may take Australian notes for a room or a meal, and the change comes back in local currency. Neither is on the Reserve Bank of Fiji's list of licensed dealers, published on 4 September 2026, which holds commercial banks and restricted foreign exchange dealers and nothing else.
The newest charge on the bill is written to be visible. The Tourism Services Tax Act 2026, Act No. 20 of 2026, came into force on 1 September 2026 and levies five per cent on the annual gross turnover of a tourism business, where that turnover exceeds two million Fijian dollars. The tax is payable by the person to whom the service is supplied, is not itself subject to value added tax, and must be shown clearly and separately on the invoice or receipt.
The Schedule to the Tourism Services Tax Act 2026 reaches hotel accommodation, inbound tour services, services aboard a vessel carrying tourists within Fiji, and water sports. Section 5 of that Act directs everything collected in the first year, to 31 August 2027, to the company that owns or operates Fiji Airways.
A departing tourist can reclaim value added tax on goods, under a much older scheme. The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has run the Tourist VAT Refund Scheme since 1 February 2010, open to a non-resident tourist aged 13 or over holding a foreign passport. Claims are made at Nadi and Nausori airports and three cruise terminals, where the Service issues a payment voucher for a bank counter. The goods must have been bought at approved retailers no earlier than two months before departure, and the purchases must reach 500 Fijian dollars, a figure the Service has stated since the scheme began, reachable cumulatively rather than in one purchase.
Taking a note as payment is not a licence to change money, and running an exchange business without one is a criminal offence. The Reserve Bank of Fiji set the conditions out in its press release No. 25 of 4 September 2026, under the Exchange Control Act 1950. The transaction has to be for goods or services. Any change given to the customer must be in Fijian dollars. The foreign currency received must be deposited with a commercial bank, or sold to a restricted foreign exchange dealer, within thirty days of receipt. That duty attaches to notes taken over a counter in Fiji, not to the delegated limits a dealer works to on payments leaving the country.
An authorised person collects the tax charged on leaving, on demand: someone acting by the order or with the concurrence of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, under the Airport Departure Tax Regulations 1986. Airport departure tax has been 200 Fijian dollars since 1 August 2025, set by Act No. 10 of 2024 amending the Airport Departure Tax Act 1986. Every ticket must show the amount paid, or record the passenger as exempt. Children under 12 have been exempt since 1 October 1994, and a transit passenger leaving within 48 hours of arrival since 1 August 2024.
Heading off with a card? Read how to choose a travel money card - including why you should always pay in the local currency, not Australian dollars.
Working out what the trip costs? Put your daily spend and trip length through the travel budget calculator, or convert a single amount with the currency converter.