Maldives Inland Revenue Authority has formulated a record keeping regulation to ensure that records are kept along with the quantity and price of all plastic bags sold and distributed free of charge.
MIRA published and gazetted the regulation for maintaining the record of plastic bag fees on Monday. In addition to maintaining the price of plastic bags issued under the rules, businesses must also maintain records of plastic bags sold and issued free of charge.
Every business will have to sell plastic bags at MVR 2 from today following the amendment to the Waste Management Act.
MIRA has also instructed businesses to include this amount in their GST records. Whether a business sells a single bag or a bundle of bags, the fee will be charged at MVR 2 per bag given or sold.
Fee charges are exempt in the case of;
- Plastic bags sold or supplied by duty-free shops;
- Unsealed, plastic bags for all types of fresh meat;
- Binliners sold or issued by waste management service providers or other relevant agencies.
According to the bag fee record keeping regulation, businesses are required to keep five types of records.
- The quantity and value of plastic bags sold by the business activity to customers;
- The number of plastic bags provided free of charge to customers by the business activity;
- Number of plastic bags destroyed and their value;
- The number of other types of bags that are not plastic bags sold by the business activity to customers and provided free of charge;
- Details of plastic bags returned by customers
In addition, the information of the suppliers from whom the bags were purchased and the amount of the purchase must be stored and maintained.
Businesses registered with MIRA are required to submit information on the amount of plastic bag fees charged and pay the amount to the authority. The information on the amount of the plastic bag fee must be included in the GST report of the business from today onward.
The deadline for submitting the amount charged as plastic bag fee to MIRA is the deadline for submitting the GST return of the business. The amount charged as fee is payable to MIRA in Maldivian Rufiyya.
