Bill for resumption of Green Tax to be submitted to parliament before new session begins

A senior government official, on Tuesday, has stated that the bill proposing amendments to the Tourism Act in order to resume the collection of Green Tax will be submitted to the parliament before they reconvene for the third session of the year.

The official told Sun that efforts were underway to formulate bill – whereas the completed bill would be submitted to the parliament before the commencement of the third session.

Implementation of Green Tax came to a halt following the ratification of the latest amendment to the Tourist which states that the tax will be implemented starting next year.

The amendment was passed by the Parliament at the 22^nd sitting of its second session for the year held on June 30. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the amendment on July 4.

The purpose of the latest amendment to the Tourism Act is to mandate Green Tax upon hotels and guesthouses similar to resorts.

In this regard, the amendment to the Act’s Article 35 (g) states that Green Tax will be enforced upon tourist resorts, hotels, tourist vessels and guesthouses starting from next year’s January.

Therewith, the Green Tax that was being collected from resorts till the enactment of the amendment had come to halt.

In the second quarter of this year, MIRA collected MVR 254 million as Green Tax – which contributed to 4.8 percent of the total revenue earned by the government in the quarter.