Zareer appointed as new Commissioner General of Taxation

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has appointed Hassan Zareer as the new Commissioner General of Taxation.

Zareer was presented with his letter of appointment in a ceremony held at the President’s Office on Thursday morning.

The appointment came shortly after the Bank of Maldives (BML) announced that Zareer had resigned from his post as the bank’s chairperson, in order to assume his new post.

The position of Commissioner General of Taxation fell vacant after Fathuhulla Jameel resigned from the post in February, to contest the parliamentary elections.

The President’s Office made an open call for interested candidates, and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu submitted the names of eligible candidates to the Parliament on March 13.

The names were ranked based on his preference, with former tax commissioner Yazeed Mohamed on top of the list, followed by Zareer, who had served as Yazeed’s deputy.

Both Yazeed and Zareer had lost their positions following a 2019 amendment to the Taxation Act.

But the Parliament’s Economic Committee, which vetted the candidates, approved Zareer for the post, instead of Yazeed.

Yazeed received four votes, while Zareer received 10 votes.

Zareer’s appointment was approved by the Parliament with the unanimous consensus of 45 members on May 13.

Zareer holds a Master of Science in Finance and a Bachelor of Accounting from International Islamic University, Malaysia. He is also a fellow member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, United Kingdom and a certified member of Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), Australia.

Zareer was appointed as the chairperson of BML’s board of directors in an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on March 25.

He replaced Yooshau Saeed, who had held the post of the bank’s chairperson since 2021.

Prior to his appointment to BML, Zareer served as the Director of Finance and Group Chief Compliance Officer at Villa Shipping and Trading Company Pvt Ltd. Before that, he was the Deputy Commissioner General of Taxation at the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, a position he held from August 2010 to September 2019.

He also served in various capacities at the Finance Ministry, including Chief Public Accounts Executive and Operations Manager of the Public Finance Reform Project from March 2007 to August 2010. He also served as the Assistant Director (Head of Public Enterprises Monitoring and Evaluation Board) and Assistant Under Secretary at the Ministry of Finance from July 2006 to March 2007.

He has served on the boards of various public and private companies, including the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, Maldives Tourism Development Corporation, Maldives Post Limited, State Electric Company Limited, Solarelle Insurance, and Maldives Entertainment Company Limited. He also served as the chairman of Maldives National Oil Company.