Malé, Maldives — The government’s income in May has dropped to MVR 722 million due to the extension on the income tax payment period as difficulties are faced by taxpayers in submitting the payments due to the current Covid-19 restrictions.
According to the information on the total revenue series of the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), so far this is the lowest amount of income the country earned this year.
Although the government’s income decreased, MIRA informs that this is an increase of 16.7% from the income that was predicted. Reasons for the increase include of GST, Income tax and tourism land rents.
However, the expected amount of income was not recieved from certain tax sectors due to the severe Covid-19 situation in the capital Malé city and the atolls of Maldives. These include of green tax, airport development fees and airport service charges.
The country usually earns an average of MVR 1 billion each month during the first four months of the year. While over MVR 1 billion was received on all months except February, the government earned MVR 989 million on the second month.
Despite the difficulties the country is facing, the economy expected to thrive this year, especially from the Tourism sector. The Maldivian government is expecting to receive MVR 18.9 billion as income this year, out of which, MVR 10.8 billion is from tax.
