The Parliament has approved amendments to the tax law such that Commissioner General of Taxation Yazeed Mohamed and Deputy Commissioner General of Taxation Hassan Zareer will lose their positions.
The bill submitted by Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb was approved with 59 votes in its favor, while three members abstained from voting.
When the bill was initially submitted, it did not state the removal of Yazeed and Zareer or members of the board of Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). Speaker Mohamed Nasheed had stated that the amendment was proposed to bring about changes necessary before introducing Income Tax.
However, the Economic Committee of the Parliament brought changes to the bill such that a new Commissioner General of Taxation and Deputy Commissioner General of Taxation will need to be appointed within a month of ratifying the bill. The bill also requires for the board of MIRA to be reconstituted, with an additional member appointed by the Finance Minister sitting on the board.
Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail has stated that the new amendments would be beneficial for the tax system. The minister said while businesses will also benefit from the new amendments, the current tax system in the Maldives will be further reformed due to the bill.
While the parliament has passed the amendments, Yazeed was recently summoned for questioning to the Parliament's Public Finance Committee regarding the MMPRC graft. Some members of the committee accused Yazeed of aiding former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb in executing the graft, however, Yazeed denied the claim.
