Male’, Maldives – Parliament of Maldives passes the bill presented in 2019 to increase the fee and taxes from passengers travelling out of the Maldives to increase the income of Maldives’ Government.
The amendment bill was sent to the parliament by the MP for Fuvahmulah Constituency, Mohamed Rasheed in December 2019. The bill was passed with the votes of 42 parliament members while one member voted against the bill, and another member voted for no opinions.
While no major changes were brought to the bill by the Parliament’s Committee on Economic Affairs while inspecting it, the Committee changed the date set on the bill to activate the bill starting from next year onwards as the date mentioned in the bill had already passed.
New Departure Tax and Airport Development Fee total for locals:
- Economic Class – USD 24
- Business Class – USD 120
- First Class – USD 180
- Private Jet – USD 240
New Departure Tax and Airport Development Fee total for foreigners:
- Economic Class – USD 60
- Business Class – USD 120
- First Class – USD 180
- Private Jet – USD 240
Although the bill was stuck in the parliament for all these years, the new methods to increase income for the government that were mentioned in the budget for 2021 also included increasing fees and acquiring tax money from the passengers travelling out of Maldives. The budget stated that with the new amendments, the government is expected to receive an additional income of MVR 273 million from Departure Tax and Airport Development Fee.
