Business people want MRA to open voluntary tax compliance window
Business people in the country are demanding that the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) opens the voluntary tax compliance window in view of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
However, MRA is downplaying the calls from the business sector.
Some revenue experts and business people say the opening of the voluntary tax compliance window would boost tax revenue especially now as the Covid-19 is affecting revenue collection.
Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) Francis Chinjoka Gondwe recently told Capital FM that there is a threat that the 2020-2021 budget might fail to deliver because of the diminishing revenue.
Gondwe recommended several ways that could boost revenue collection, including reopening the window to allow tax-payers settle tax arrears without penalties.
However, MRA’s Head of Corporate Affairs Steve Kapoloma said that they do not have plans to reopen the window, arguing businesses were given enough time to utilise it.
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This is a government run outfit to steal from poor malawians more so small businesses and intimidate and use threatening behavior the mra is full of corruption and worse in these trying times when small businesses are bullied into paying ridiculous amounts of taxes mra bandits think they are untouchable
what kind of a selfish organisation is MRA. Whilst governments worldwide are working to make sure businesses do do collapse during this hard time, through all sorts of incentives, ours is hell bent on killing the private sector. If you kill these businesses, where will you get the taxes from
As someone who has lived in Europe for a decade in a high tax regime, MRA is the devil. There are no tax advantages in Malawi, only penalties. MRA is like Hell. Nothing nice about it, only punishment. Why can’t MRA operate with fairness and show some benefit to Malawian businesses at all? Why does government expect MRA to make them money to blow? MRA is there to collect taxes, not to punish us to fund the government. We need a mindset change and this new President is not helping.
As usual, MRA is against companies, against development and against investors… All that MRA has achieved is to make Malawi poorer and poorer
Taxes should not be used to punish taxpayers. If companies are collapsing due to the pandemic, where will government get money to operate from? MRA must an understanding organization, companies are struggling. Some companies are paying their staff with 50% and yet nobody in the civil can agree his/her salary to be slashed. The Tax Compliance Window (TCW) with all fines and penalties removed and let the taxpayer remit initial taxes. If business community requests, then MRA doesn’t listen, then businesses closing, who loses most? It’s government anyway. People pay taxes because it their civil duty and legal duty to do so even though connecting taxes paid and development levels is totally quiet different.
MRA please listen to the business community, its to have little than none.
If there is one organisation which needs complete overhaul, it is MRA. I don’t understand why the previous and current governments don’t understand that MRA with its existing practices has always been a threat to the economy and hence needing restructuring and overhauling.
Recently, I once had a conversation with one MRA senior guy who admitted that the organisation is a mess and needs a serious review on how it conducts business in particular on how it treats taxpayers. The current tax regime does not instil any confidence and willingness on the part of taxpayers to pay taxes. In fact, the existing tax regime promotes tax evasion, people shying away from paying taxes. There is just too much corruption in government and at MRA itself. People know that if they pay tax, majority of the taxes will end up by wasted by politicians / government officials.
How far has the mindset change campaign championed by the VP gone? It is dying typical natural death like many other good ideas which followed the same path to the scrapyard.
Malawi needs a complete change, starting afresh. Malawi should not just start with mindset change but should start with changing our values. We need to start instilling good values in our education system, families and then upwards. The youth and the old today have been indoctrinated with the idea of fast money which then translates into corruption in work or businesses. Malawi needs to start afresh
The VP spoke about a tax holiday, where is it? The VP spoke about a tax break, where is it? The VP spoke about a day where you can import goods tax free, where is it?
And someone explain to me what is the purpose of paying duty, excise, and VAT? They’re adding tax on tax on tax. That even, when you buy goods, but the time they get here there is a devaluation. So we pay tax on tax on tax on devaluation. This is ridiculous!
Oh and they will uplift the value of the goods saying it’s too cheap, just because you’re not black Malawian. So if you’re a good business man and source goods cheaper than your competitors, you get hit in your own country. This is absurd. No wonder Malawi is so damn poor. We are one of the poorest countries in the world and remain so. In 1991 we had the same GDP as Singapore. Look where Singapore is today, and look where we are. We can’t even feed our own country and need to food, even oil! Can you believe we import oil and water as well?