MIRA registers 37 percent drop in revenue due to pandemic

With the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) registered a 37 percent drop in revenue in 2020 compared to the previous year.

Statistics released by MIRA show the authority collected total MVR 10.4 billion as revenue in 2020, compared to the MVR 16.8 billion it collected in 2019.

The USD revenue dropped by 54 percent from MVR 653.3 million percent in 2019 to MVR 296.8 million in 2020.

Revenue from all segments except for Income Tax, Foreign Investment Administration Fee, Tourism Registration and License Fee all show a decline compared to 2019.

The biggest contribution to revenue in 2020 came from Goods and Service Tax (GST). MIRA collected MVR 4.3 billion as GST in 2020 – a lower figure than the MVR 7.7 billion in 2019.

MIRA also collected total MVR 1.8 billion as Income Tax, MVR 1.7 billion as Business Profit Tax, and MVR 702.7 million as Tourism Land Rent in 2020.

Looking at the statistics for December alone, MIRA collected total MVR 1.04 billion, including USD 39.1 million, as revenue during the month. The figure is a 34.1 percent drop compared to December 2019.

MIRA attributed the drop in revenue to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in tourist arrivals, resulting in a decline in economic activity and tax collection from the tourism sector, led to a decline in collection of major taxes such as GST and Green Tax.