Author: Mohamed Reehaan
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has published a guideline on the implementation of the new plastic bag fee. The plastic bag fee is levied on local business ventures, registered with MIRA and subject to pay GST. The fee is charged in accordance with the Maldives Waste Management Act (Act No: 24/2022). Under the new guideline, plastic bags sold at the point of sale is subject to a fee of MVR2.00. The new fee will become effective from 00:00hrs on 18th April 2023, said MIRA. While the plastic bag fee is mainly collected from entities registered to pay GST to…
The Maldives Vice President Faisal Naseem on Monday, 10th April 2023, called for a whole-of-society approach to ensuring road safety. In his statement, Naseem urged government offices, institutions, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to support the Maldives Police Service in “increasing public awareness on the issue.” The Maldives Vice President made these remarks while speaking at an awareness session held by the Maldives Police under its ‘Fahiraastha’ campaign, held at the Islamic Center’s hall. Naseem in his remarks, said that all government offices, institutions, and SOEs are responsible for increasing awareness about road safety in their workplaces for their employees. He…
The Island Council authority of ADh. Dhigurah announced a total of 77 plots from the island are now up for sale. Each plot measures 2,000 square-feet in size, and will be put up for the sale with applications accepted until 09th May 2023. Application forms are now available via the Maldives government’s Gazette, the website of Dhigurah island council and its office. While non-residents of the island are eligible, locals born and living in Dhigurah with a marriage marital status will receive the most number of points; which is 65. Non-residents or Maldivian citizens not born or registered to Dhigurah…
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), earlier on 22nd March 2023 announced the commencement of a special campaign. Titled ‘Fansa-aahi’, the campaign aims to improve tax compliance of taxpayers and to improve on-time return filing rate. MIRA added that the objective was to improve the rate of tax returns submitted on time as per the deadlines. Failure to file tax returns before the deadline is an offense punishable under the Tax Administration Act of the Maldives. Under the campaign, MIRA conducted activities to encourage timely filing of tax returns to increase the proportion of tax returns filed on time. MIRA…
The State Trading Organization (STO) has signed with the Ministry of Health to procure and deliver a total of 20 ambulances to the Maldivian health sector. This comes as the first prominent arrangement by the largest state-owned enterprise (SOE) in the country with a state body since the appointment of STO’s new front man Abdulla Saeed. Saeed had signed the agreement on behalf of STO and the Minister of State for Health Ahmed Adil signed on behalf of the ministry. STO is required to procure and deliver the ambulances within a 90-day period. The enterprise had earlier delivered close to…
The Maldives government collected a total revenue of MVR2.19 billion in March 2023, reported the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). According to the taxation and revenue authority, the government earned 100.99 million out of this monthly total in US Dollars. Moreover, the total revenues collected to the state went down by 1.2% compared to March 2022. The slight drop in revenues was mainly due to the decline in the collection of Corporate Income Tax and Non-resident Withholding Tax. Additionally, tourism land rent collections observed a decline in the review month compared to March 2022. Although the revenue collection observed a…
The Maldives government has already utilized 60% of the budget allocated for Aasandha for the fiscal year 2023. Aasandha is the state-initiated health insurance and social protection initiative with the aim of supporting Maldivian citizens in their medical needs. Statistics from the Ministry of Finance revealed that the government has already utilized MVR628.1 million out of the annual total of MVR1,045.0 million (MVR1.05 billion) allocated in the budget. The government had spent only MVR345 million during the first quarter in 2022, but that was against an annual total of MVR730 million; almost MVR300 million less than this year’s allocation. While…
The Maldives has been nominated for several awards under the Indian Ocean category at the World Travel Awards 2023. Among the multiple nomination nods, Maldives is nominated for the “Indian Ocean’s Leading Sustainable Tourism Destination 2023” award, one of the more prominent accolades in the event. The Maldives is nominated for the award alongside four other island nations in the region. Voting for the World Travel Awards 2023 is currently open, and will remain effective until 30th April 2023. Besides the high-profile Sustainable Destination nomination nod, the Maldives has been nominated for multiple awards under the Indian Ocean category which…
The Ministry of Tourism has confirmed it is preparing to resume the special talk series “Tourism Upbeat” once again. “Tourism Upbeat” is a special talk series focusing on the Maldivian tourism industry. The series first commenced in February 2022 as part of the Golden Year of Tourism celebrations. The show was created with the aim of creating awareness and provide information to encourage students to take up tourism industry jobs. Each session of the series is focused on a singular theme, and invites a panel of high-profile speakers to impart their knowledge and share their experience with the attendees. The…
The Bank of Maldives (BML) has said proposals to its Community Fund will be accepted until 13th April 2023, Thursday. BML launched its Community Fund to held local NGOs and associations to execute community-centric projects in key focused areas which include, environment, education, sports, and community empowerment. Winning proposals will secure a funding of MVR 50,000 towards their respective projects. The bank will extend financing under the Community Fund to registered associations and organizations only. BML has provided financial support under the #AharengeBank Community Fund initiative for over 80 projects across the Maldives.