According to the statistics of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue from green tax has declined by 93% to MVR 3.9 million in June 2020 while MVR 56.4 million was collected during June 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several restrictions were initiated including the closure of the country’s borders which restricted tourist arrivals. Green tax is applicable for resorts, safaris, and guesthouses since October 2016 to generate finance for projects aimed to protect the environment of the Maldives where all tourists at resorts have to pay USD 6 and tourists at guesthouses have to pay USD 3. The amount of MVR 3.5 million of the green tax relates to resorts whereby the revenue declined to a great extent with no tourist arrivals.
The total green tax revenue collected during this year amounts to MVR 283 million where MVR 148 million was spent on projects under green fund. The majority of tax revenue of MVR 1.5 million was collected from Kaafu atoll. And, the collections from other atolls remained between 200,000 and 300,000 while no revenue was generated from Fuvahmulah city, Addu city, Shaviyani atoll, Faafu atoll, Thaa atoll, Gaafu Dhaal atoll and Laamu atoll.
