State revenue declined by 11.5 percent during the first quarter of 2020, state tax authority MIRA has said.
Statistical records for the period between January to March 2020 showed that the state received a revenue of MVR 4.35 billion during the first quarter. This is a decline of 11.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
The decline was due to the decrease in revenue collected in the form of resort land lease rent, tourism GST, GST, construction period extension fee, royalty, withholding tax and residence permits. However, the revenue collected as BPT, CSR fee, airport development fee and airport service charge had increased compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
While MVR 3.65 billion was collected as tax during this year’s first quarter, this is a 6.3 percent decline from the revenue collected last year. MVR 700 million was received from other means, a decrease of 31.1 percent compared to the previous year.
Goods and Service Tax (GST) revenue for the first quarter reached MVR2.3; making it the most collected revenue source. While MVR 236 million was collected as Green Tax, MVR 200 million was collected as airport development fee. MVR 199 million was collected as airport development service charge. The top five revenue generating activities translate to 85 percent of total revenue generated in the first quarter.
60 percent of all revenue collected by MIRA was paid in US dollars, while 39.9 percent of payments were collected in Maldivian Rufiyaa. The payments received in US dollars have declined by 12.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
