Government revenue down by 15.5 percent in first quarter

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has reported in its first quarterly report of 2012 that the total revenue collection during the first quarter of 2012 is 15.5 percent lower than the projected revenue.

The projected revenue for January, February and March 2012 is Rf2.4b. However as only Rf2b was received, it is a reduction of 15.5 percent.

The reason for the reduction mentioned in the report is the Civil Court ruling that the Lease Period Extension Fee is required to be paid on an annual basis. The projection for 2012 was based on the assumption that the fee was being collected in advance. This judgement reduced revenue by 76.1 percent compared with projected figures.

Collection from Sale of Capital Assets was lower by 70.6 percent than projected, general GST was lower by 14.8 percent, Tourism Land Rent was lower by 12.3 percent, and Vehicle Fee was lower by 10.2 percent.

No further revenue will be collected during this year from lease period extension, resulting in the government revenue for the whole year being lower than projected.

Dollar revenue amounts to $80.8m, which is 61.1 percent of the total collection. Even though collection is lower than projected, it is an increase of 113.9 percent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2011. The main reasons for this significant growth are new sources of revenue, namely General GST and increased collection in Airport Service Charge. Compared with the last quarter of last year, this year’s first quarter collection is 76.2 percent higher.

MIRA filed ten cases to court over the last three months, out of which verdicts have been reached on three cases, and three cases have been withdrawn upon MIRA's request, subsequent to reaching settlements outside of court between MIRA and the defendants. A total of 42 audits were conducted during the quarter, which resulted in additional tax of $15,989. Also MIRA collected arrears of Rf21m in the last quarter.

Total revenue collected under the Business Profit Tax during the first quarter is Rf428.1m. Rf721.9m was received as GST. Collection from Tourism Tax was lower by 3.2 percent at Rf231.4.