Policies changed to allow MIRA to freeze bank accounts of non-payers of tax

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has strengthened its enforcement policies to allow the agency to freeze the bank accounts of non-payers of tax.

On Sunday, MIRA announced changes to three of its enforcement policies; the general enforcement policy, the policy on accessing bank account information and freezing bank accounts, and its name and shame policy.

The changes allow MIRA to freeze the bank accounts of individuals who fail to file taxes despite receiving notices from the agency, if the money in the bank account is higher than the threshold set by MIRA, excluding fines and interest, and if MIRA’s records does not show any money that the outstanding tax payments can be set off against.

However, it is not applicable in situations where an agreement is signed under MIRA’s installment policy or if the non-payer of tax is a 100 percent state-owned enterprise or a company that the state owns a majority of shares in.

The changes to the three enforcement policies took effect the moment it was published on the Government Gazette on Sunday.