MP Azim: Purpose of taxes by citizens are not for settlement payments

Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim has lamented the government’s policy of making large payments to private companies for settlements in cases such as contract violations and stated that this was not the purpose for which the average taxpayer pays his or her dues.

MP Azim who is a leading figure in the governing MDP MPs was speaking on the state budget proposed for 2020 when he pointed out that 59 percent of the government income was from the taxes that are paid by the citizens. Azim stated that the income should be used for the betterment of the lives of the public for this reason.

“So, Maldivians are not paying taxes to make payments back. They are paying taxes to get the services that they need,” said Azim, who is the parliamentary group (PG) leader of MDP.

MP Azim stated that the no payments amounting higher than the amount allocated for such payments in the proposed budget should be made by the state and declared that the taxpayer’s money should be used for purposes that the majority of the people wanted.

Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Eva Abdulla also criticized the fact that the estimated amount of money to be gained from the efforts by the state to obtain money lost or misappropriated from the state as well as the money to be obtained from those who worked to damage the state was not included in the budget when MVR one billion was included in the budget for settlement payments.

MP Azim then stated that the heads of government institutions should not be allowed to spend the budget allocated for such institutions extravagantly before noting that the country needed time to prepare for the soon to be taken income tax, to which the Maldives is new to.