Tax and import revenue grows in July

Government revenue from taxes and tariffs increased in July.

A total of MVR2.1 billion (US$136 million) was collected by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, up two percent from July last year.

Business profit tax and goods and services tax accounted for 68 percent of total revenue, followed by bank profit tax (16.4 percent), tourism land rent (five percent) and green tax (two percent).

“The increment against July 2017 is due to the fact that in 2018, deadline for BPT final payment was extended to 1 July 2017 as the initial deadline fell to a public holiday,” the tax authority explained.

“Along with this, deadline for the BPT First Interim payment of tax year 2018 was due in July 2018, which together led to the increment in BPT.”

Revenue from the tourism goods and services tax stood at US$16 million, down from US$19 million in July 2017. However, T-GST revenue during the first seven months increased to US$197 million from US$166 million during the same period last year, representing more than a quarter of earnings.

In addition to tax revenue, the Maldives Customs Service collected MVR282 million as import duties and other fees in July, up 11 percent from the previous year.

Goods worth MVR4.1 billion were imported during July, an increase of 38 percent from last year.  The United Arab Emirates was the top importing country with a 19 percent share, followed by China, Singapore, Malaysia and India.

The major importing categories were machinery and mechanical or electrical appliances and fuel.

Total exports also rose 36 percent from the previous year and stood at MVR263 million, with frozen skipjack tuna accounting for 21 percent. Thailand was the top exporting country, followed by the UK, Germany, USA and France.

Last week, the Finance Ministry reported spending MVR11 billion while MVR10.6 billion was collected by the state during the first half of 2018, representing a deficit of US$27.34 million.