Malé, Maldives – Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has called on Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer to resign.
MATATO called for this in a statement issued following the government’s decision to increase GST and TGST.
With the tax changes from January next year, TGST will be increased from 12 percent to 16 percent and GST from 6 percent to 8 percent.
The government has said the main purpose of the amendment to the tax law is to increase government revenue due to government spending policies and changes in the global economy.
In their statement, MATATO said that they had held meetings with the representative of IMF and the World Bank and found out Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer had lied about the tax increase being based on the guidance of the two agencies.
The statement also alleged that Ameer had given false information to the parliament to pass the tax bill.
MATATO called on the Finance Minister Ameer to resign as he is not capable of holding such a position.
The statement said extensive work has been done by them with the tourism industry to understand the impact of the sudden tax increase on tourism services. Tourism businesses, including resorts, safari yachts, hotels and guesthouses, will lose USD 50 million in the first quarter of next year, MATATO said.
MATATO said the tax increase would also adversely affect workers in the tourism industry. This is expected to reduce the average service charge of MVR 2,000 per employee.
