The
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) on 26th January 2022 implemented the
Block Management System (BMS) in the Capital City of Lilongwe, following its
successful piloting and implementation in Blantyre.
Before
the implementation in Lilongwe, the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) conducted a
lot of awareness on the system through the media and interface meetings. The
latest workshops were conducted between the 18th to 20th
January 2022.
Participants
who attended the workshops were lodge and inn operators, liquor shop operators,
salon and boutique owners, gas station operators, Asian business community, private
school owners, pharmacists, clinicians, eateries and SMEs including cross
border traders, among others.
BMS is
a taxpayer outreach scheme that physically identifies and maps taxpayers and
breaks them down into manageable blocks to allow MRA to visit them in person to
educate and encourage tax compliance.
In his
presentations at the workshops, Dr. Donasius Pathera, a member of the BMS
project team, hinted that the system was intended to bring taxpayer service
such as filing of tax returns, payment of taxes and taxpayer education at the
people’s door step and encouraged the participants to embrace the system.
He
added that BMS was aimed at widening the tax net and levelling the playing
field so that every business person pays their fair share of the taxes due to
Government.
“Research suggests that out of 1.6 million
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Malawi, only 27, 000 are
registered for tax and this is a very worrisome situation. It is, therefore, my
belief that with BMS, many businesses will be enlisted in the tax net leading
to more revenue collection,” added Dr. Pathera.
He informed the audience that Lilongwe City had been divided into four blocks namely (1) Bwalo la Njobvu (2) Malangalanga (3) Area 3, Area 9, Crossroads and Kanengo and (4) City Centre.
By Sungeni Mangulama