MALAWI REVENUE AUTHORITY PROFILE
The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) is an agency of the Government of Malawi responsible for assessment, collection and accounting for tax revenues. MRA was established by an Act of Parliament in 1998 and was launched in February 2000. It was formed to improve on the functions previously carried out by Divisions of Customs and Excise, and Income Tax in the Ministry of Finance. The Authority operates as a government tax administration agency under the Ministry of Finance. The revenue that the Authority collects goes to Government for implementation of various socio-economic development projects such as the constructions of roads, bridges, schools health facilities and provision of social services. These include national security, provision of salaries for civil servants such as the police, the army, judges, doctors, nurses and teachers.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
The MRA is overseen by a Board of Directors and headed by a Commissioner General who provides leadership, strategic direction and control of the authority. In pursuance of these duties and to accomplish the mandate, MRA has functional divisions in place. The Authority has two revenue divisions namely: Customs Division and Domestic Taxes Division. It also has supporting divisions namely Finance, Administration, Human Resource and Organisation Development, Legal Services, Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Tax Investigations, Policy Planning & Research, Corporate Affairs, Internal Audit, Supply Chain Management, Internal Affairs, Modernisation, Debt Management and Enterprise Wide Risk Management
The Customs Division administers and enforces the Customs and Excise Act. The division collects Import duty, Export duty, Import Excise, Import VAT and trade statistics. It also facilitates trade and protects the community from entry and exit of restricted and prohibited goods. The Domestic Taxes Division administers and enforces the Taxation and VAT Acts. The Division collects direct Income Taxes from individuals and corporations. These are in form of Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Provisional Tax, Fringe Benefit Tax and Withholding Tax. The division also collects domestic VAT and domestic excise. MRA has over 30 stations spread across the country.
PURPOSE
To collect revenue on behalf of Malawi Government
MISSION STATEMENT
To collect revenue and facilitate legitimate trade for national development
VISION STATEMENT
To be a modern revenue administration known for excellent service
CORE VALUES
As the Malawi Tax Administration, we wish to establish ourselves as a responsible organization, providing quality service to the Malawi nation that is based on:
FUNCTIONS OF THE MRA
The Authority is charged with the responsibility for the assessment and collection of specified revenues on behalf of the Government of Malawi. The specific functions of the Authority are to:
REFORMS IN TAX ADMINISTRATION
Since inception, the Authority has continuously instituted reforms aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of MRA to increase revenue collection. Reforms are also aimed at promoting voluntary tax compliance to the highest degree possible to maximise revenue collection and decrease the cost of collecting revenue. Some of the recent notable reforms initiatives include:
Earlier reform initiatives achieved include the integration of Income Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) divisions into Domestic Tax Division which also administers Domestic Excise, the launch of the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) and the introduction of Destination Inspection, Risk Management Division and Post Clearance Audit (PCA) in Customs and Excise divisions.