Male’, Maldives – Statistical reports by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) show that the November income of the institution has decreased by up to almost 60% compared to the same month in 2019.
The monthly reports reveal that in November 2020, MIRA received MVR 461.5 million, of which MVR 385.9 million is tax revenue, with the remaining MVR 75.6 million received from non tax sources.
The 2019 numbers for November were significantly higher, with total revenue of MVR 1.15 billion, of which MVR 849 million being tax revenue, and MVR 301.7million classified as non tax revenue.
The total revenue from January to November 2020 is just upwards of MVR 9.4 billion, significantly lower than the 2019 value for the same statistic, which is MVR 15.2 billion.
MIRA said that a key factor for this decrease was the significantly lower number of tourist arrivals, and the subsequent decrease in income from tourism activities when compared to the same period in 2019.
The tourism sector generates significant revenue for the government through GST and Green Tax, both of which were very low in November.
At MVR 308 million, a large portion of the total income for November still consisted of GST, making up 66.9% of the total November revenue. The remaining tax incomes consisted of the following:
- Income Tax : MVR 42 million
- Green Tax : MVR 16.49 million
- BPT : MVR 11.33 million
- Revenue Stamp : MVR 0.3 million
The report also revealed that the government received no income at all form both Remittance tax and Land sales tax, which when totaled, brought in just over MVR 10 million last year.
