Banks report a fall in profits, tax income falls short of projections

Total tax income for the month of May fell below projections due to a significant fall in income generated from bank profit tax.

Statistics released by Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) shows the agency received MVR 1.09 billion as tax income in May. The figure is 5.5 percent less than the projected value.

The fall has been attributed to a steep decrease in income from bank profit tax.

Statistics show MIRA received MVR 20.1 million as bank profit tax in May – a 79 percent decrease compared to the MVR 98.71 million it received as bank profit tax in May 2018.

Previously, bank profit tax had made up for 9.4 percent of the total tax income. The figure fell to 1.9 percent in May.

Despite the tax income falling below projections, the MVR 1.09 billion generated in tax income is still 3.4 percent more than the total tax income generated in May 2018.

The overall improvement in tax income has been attributed to a 36.7 percent increase in tourist arrivals compared to May 2018, resulting in an increase in income generated from business profit tax (BPT), good and service tax (GST), and tourism goods and service tax (TGST).

The biggest contributor to the total tax income in May was GST with MVR 666.90 million. It was followed by MVR 95.40 million as BPT – which made up for 8.8 percent of the total tax income.

MIRA also received MVR 77.66 million as green tax, MVR 64.84 million as airport development fee, MVR 64.27 million as airport service charge, and MVR 116.62 million as other taxes.

Tax income in May also included USD 43 million.

The total tax income received by MIRA from January to May stands at MVR 7.33 billion.