The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has reported a revenue of MVR 1.60 billion for August 2023, signifying a 21% growth in comparison to the corresponding period of 2022.
However, the revenue observed a decline of 7.7% against the forecast projections for the month.
One key driver behind the surge in August 2023’s revenue, relative to August 2022, is the increased collection from TGST, GGST, Tourism Land Rent, and Airport Taxes and Fees. Notably, the month of July 2023 witnessed a 9.0% uptick in tourist arrivals in comparison to July 2022, which subsequently augmented the collection from tourism-centric revenues such as TGST and Airport Taxes and Fees. An altered GST rate also paved the way for an enhanced collection of TGST and GGST against the previous year.
Contrastingly, revenue collection dipped in comparison to the anticipated figures for August, predominantly attributed to a dip in the collection of Income Tax, TGST, and Green Tax. Furthermore, tourist arrivals saw a slight dip of 0.2% relative to the month’s projections, influencing a decrease in the collection of certain tourism-related revenues, including TGST and Green Tax.
A detailed analysis of the revenue streams indicates that a significant 59.1% of MIRA’s revenue for August was constituted by GST, followed by 11.8% from Income Tax, 5.7% from airport development fees, 5.5% from departure tax, 4.4% through green tax, and 13.52% from other sources.
MIRA’s total revenue for August 2023 stood at USD 62.02 million.
