There is a peculiar kind of madness gripping Malawi’s economic policy, one that would be almost comical if the consequences weren’t so devastating for ordinary people. While government ministers stand at podiums preaching the gospel of investment, export growth and industrialisation, their own tax authority is quietly strangling the very businesses capable of delivering it. […]
The country’s private sector giants have revealed they hold over ten trillion Kwacha in assets, but say heavy taxes, forex shortages and persistent energy challenges are choking investment in Malawi. The sentiments were shared in Blantyre on Thursday during a Business Breakfast held under the theme “Driving Economic Transformation Through Collaborative Partnership”, which brought together […]
Malawi’s tax authority is being asked to raise almost the entirety of the country’s K10.978tn budget for 2026/27, more than a decade after international donors withdrew direct financial support to the government following one of the country’s largest corruption scandals. The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) once operated alongside donor funding that covered as much as […]
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation Joseph Mwanamvekha has described the Dedza One Stop Border Post as one of Malawi’s most strategic revenue-generating points, following a hands-on inspection visit to the facility. Speaking during his tour, Mwanamvekha said the vast majority of goods passing through Dedza are destined for Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Zambia and other […]
Malawi’s tax authority has been hailed as the “engine room of the nation” after raking in a jaw-dropping K1.40 trillion in tax revenue in a single quarter, as government officials unveiled an ambitious five-year strategy aimed at supercharging the country’s finances. Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha officially launched the Malawi Revenue Authority’s (MRA) Corporate Strategic Plan […]
Malawi’s Finance Minister has called on the national tax collector to step up revenue generation, warning that the country must become self-reliant as foreign aid drops and public debt mounts. Speaking at the Lilongwe Inland Depot following an inspection of the Mchinji-Mwami Border, Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralization Minister Joseph Mwanamveka urged the Malawi Revenue […]
Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha has signalled that the government is preparing to review a raft of taxes imposed on various goods, insisting the levies were only ever intended as temporary measures. Mwanamvekha made the announcement on Thursday in Lilongwe during the annual Digital Africa Summit at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC), responding directly to […]
Malawi and South Africa have signed a new agreement designed to clamp down on customs fraud by allowing tax authorities in both countries to swap information electronically for the first time. The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) put pen to paper on an IT Connectivity Implementation Arrangement, a deal […]
Malawi’s cities and major towns are expected to host a new wave of nationwide protests next Wednesday, April 21, 2021, as the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) takes to the streets to protest against ‘government’s punitive taxes, high levies and interest rates on loans and essential services and commodities’. CDEDI executive director Sylvester […]
Malawi government has ruled out bringing down Value Added Tax (VAT) on cooking oil which consumers say it to blame for the high price of the commodity. Government insists it will not be reversing the introduction of 16.5 percent VAT on cooking oil saying the decision was done to enhance efficiency in the cooking oil […]
As rampant smuggling of different products threatens to cripple the local manufacturing industry, economics professor at the Polytechinic —a constituent college of the Universityh of Malawi— Betchani Tchereni, has urged government to seriously consider strong measures that can help to curb the malpractice. Of late, there has been a sharp rise in smuggling of items […]
Like other assets, cryptocurrency such as Bitcoins is also subjected to tax. However, the process becomes so complex that only a few pay the tax. The non-filers consider cryptocurrency as a gateway that can be utilized to generate multiple income streams and transform their black money into moveable cash. Therefore, due to this misconception, they […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has urged government to deal with individuals and organisations who are cheating the revenue authorities on tax so that they government can be supporting vital public services. In a statement issued on Sunday titled Procastination in Decision making Hurting Malawians, HRDC claimed to know some Asian-owned companies and individuals […]
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) says it collected K4 .65 billion in tax revenue through its ongoing six-month Voluntary Compliance Window (VCW) the revenue body opened in April this year which closes at the end of this month. MRA head of corporate affairs Steve Kapoloma told journalists at Msonkho House in Blantyre that compliance window allows […]
Malawi Parliament on Monday passed the Taxation amendment Bill which among others seeks to introduce a 20 percent tax on winning bets and lotteries and also fulfill Tonse Alliance promise of K100 000 tax free band. The bill went through the committee stage without any amendment. Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu has, however, underlined that […]
The introduction of a 20 percent withholding tax on winnings from betting and gambling transactions including lotteries, will make the gaming industry exit due to the “punitive” tax–leading to loss of 1000 direct and indirect jobs. ActionAid Malawi has said this in its budget tax revenue policy analysis which was presented to members of the […]
Funds amounting to K1.2 billion—a figure enough to support 30 constituencies at the present package of K40 million, in constituency development fund (CDF)—may as well have miraculously disappeared in government coffers as officials from the Ministry of Finance have failed to explain how they were spent. Government, last year, introduced carbon tax levies which it […]
Finance Minister Felix Mlusu has announced an increase of tax free band from K45,000 to K100,000, a tax measure which was announced in the K722 billion provisional budget but was not implemented. Mlusu said when he presented the 2020/21 national budget in Parliament on Friday. He said government realizes the need to increase disposable income […]