Revenue in August falls below forecast

Revenue of MVR863 million (US$56 million) collected in August by the tax authority was 3.4 percent below forecast and 14.8 percent lower than the same month last year.

The decrease was attributed to “one-off payments” such as fees land acquisition, construction period extension and lease period extension collected in August 2018.

“Furthermore, decrease in [business profit tax] and [goods and services tax], due to non-payment, added to this variance,” the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority explained in its monthly revenue report released on Tuesday. “Compared to the projection for the month, revenue of August 2019 slightly declined since GST decreased due to non-payment.”

Business profit tax and good and services tax account for more than 65 percent of government income. BPT revenue reached MVR2.6 billion by the end of August and MVR5.3 billion was collected as GST, including US$223 million from the tourism sector.

According to weekly fiscal developments released by the finance ministry, revenue and grants stood at MVR16 billion as of September 5 out of MVR24 billion projected for the year. Government spending reached MVR17 billion at the end of the first week of September.