Bed Tax to be discontinued starting 1 January 2014

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority will stop collecting Tourism Tax (Bed Tax) starting 12:00 a.m. on 1 January 2014, as the parliament failed to pass the amendment to continue the tax after the end of the year.

Article 35 (a) of the 1999 Maldives Tourism Act states that the Bed Tax shall be enforced until 31 December 2013. It also states that the sum of $8 shall be collected as tax payable to the government from each tourist per day of stay at a tourist resort, tourist hotel, tourist guesthouse or tourist vessel.

On December 24, MP Abdul Azeez submitted a bill proposing to amend the Tourism Act to continue the Bed Tax until the end of 2014. The bill also sought to increase the powers to the principle tax collector, Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) to continue enforcing the tax.

However, parliament went to recess yesterday after concluding the third session of the parliament, failing to table the bill before the end of the year.

Having collected MVR 787.3 million in Bed Tax until November this year, a 9.6 percent increase compared to the same period of 2012, the Bed Tax constitutes of large portion of the government’s revenue.