MDAs encouraged to comply with tax laws

The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has called upon all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to fully comply with the tax laws if the Government’s dream to mobilize domestic revenue and reduce donor dependence is to succeed.

The remarks were made recently by the Deputy Commissioner Domestic Taxes responsible for Government Compliance Office, Janet Kholowa, when she presided over workshops to drill MDAs on taxation in Blantyre and Lilongwe.

Kholowa observed that while some MDAs were complying with the law others were not submitting tax returns for various taxes and were also failing to deduct PAYE, WHT, FBT and Non-Resident Tax (NRT) as required by law.

She also lamented that some MDAs were not familiar with Customs Procedure Codes (CPCs) that govern their jurisdiction and applied for duty waivers that were inconsistent with the law, among other things.

"Realizing that the Government is the largest employer, buyer and importer of various goods and the services, the Authority was losing a lot of revenue and that was why the Authority decided to organize the workshops with MDAs across the country in order to fill the information, knowledge and skills gaps they have on taxation," she said.

She went on to say that if Malawi was to curtail its dependence on donor funding as enshrined in the Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy (DRMS) 2021-2026, it was very important for the Authority to regularly engage the public and private sectors on matters of taxation with a view to address the challenge, hence the workshops.

Speaking on behalf of the participants in Blantyre, Churchill Banda, from the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) said the workshop was an eye opener because they learnt a lot on taxes which they would put into practice and collect more revenue on behalf of the Government.

"But it would be better if these workshops were conducted biannually as one way of refreshing our knowledge on taxes," added Banda.

MRA is currently conducting country-wide workshops with senior officials from MDAs such as Directors of Finance, Procurement Officers and Accountants to bridge the information and knowledge gaps they have on taxation in order to increase revenue collection.

 

BY NAPO SIMKONDA