Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has recorded a 9.3% increase in revenue in November compared to the same month last year.
According to the monthly revenue collection report, MIRA collected USD108 million in revenue in November, which is a 10.5% increase compared to the same period last year. MIRA stated that the increase in revenue is mainly due to the increase in collection of Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) and GST, as the tax rate is higher than last year.
Additionally, the collection of expatriate quota fee this year, along with the dues collection of tourism land rent led to the increase in revenue. Tourist arrivals in October increased by 3.5% compared to the same month last year, which led to an increase in tourist-related revenues.
The statistics show that a large amount of the state revenue collected in October was from GST. As such, USD71 million was collected in GST and USD5.5 million was collected in Green Tax. In addition, USD4.8 million was collected in Airport Development Fees and USD2 million was collected in tourism land rent.
Furthermore, MIRA recorded a 9.3% in revenue collection in November compared to the projected amount. MIRA stated that the increase was due to the increment in the collection of the expatriate quota fee, TGST, tourism land rent, cooperate income tax and work permit fee. Dues from the prior deadlines were received during November for income tax, TGST, and tourism land rent. In addition, tourist arrivals in October were 0.8% higher than the projected arrivals, which contributed to the increase.