The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has recorded a 6.4% increase in state revenue in March compared to the projected revenue.
The statistics published by MIRA show that the state received USD143 million in revenue in March, which is a 6.4% increase compared to the projected revenue. MIRA stated that the revenue in March is higher than predicted mainly due to the increment in the collection of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Tourism Land Rent, Non-resident Withholding Tax, Airport Development Fee, Departure Tax, and Green Tax. Tourist-related revenue increased due to the increment of tourist arrivals compared to the forecasted arrivals by 4%.
A large amount of the state revenue collected in February was from GST. As such, USD84.9 million were collected in GST, USD19.8 million were collected in Tourism Land Rent, and USD6.8 million were collected in green tax. In addition, USD6.4 million were collected in airport development fees and USD14.2 million were collected in other fees and tax.
Furthermore, MIRA stated that the 1.2% decrement in revenue compared to the forecast for the month is mainly due to the decline in the collection of Corporate Income Tax and Non-resident Withholding Tax. In addition, the Tourism Land Rent collection period of resorts in the second quarter of 2023 had been extended until April 2023. Therefore, the rental income of the resorts has decreased compared to March 2022.