MIRA collection report for March 2025 reports a total collection of MVR 3.4 billion, reflecting a 15.1 percent increase in revenue compared to March 2024, with the Goods and Services Tax being the main revenue contributor.
The building of Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). PHOTOGRAPH: MIHAARU FILES
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) published its collection report for March 2025 on 10 April 2025, reporting a total revenue collection of MVR3.4 billion for the month. This figure includes USD revenue, which sums up to USD127.6 million. Of the total revenue collection, 6.9 percent accounts for late payments-dues from prior deadlines. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) remains the primary source of revenue, contributing 57.0 percent to the total collection. Notably, the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) alone accounts for 54.0 percent of the USD revenue that MIRA collected during the month.
While the revenue collection of MIRA in March 2025 was 15.1 percent higher than in March 2024, MIRA’s total revenue collection has reached MVR9.2 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2025. This represents a 3.3 percent increase compared to MIRA’s total revenue collection during the corresponding period of the previous year.
MIRA Monthly Revenue Collection – March 2025 (MVR, millions)
Tax revenue collected by MIRA in March 2025 amounted to MVR2.5 billion, with TGST being the main contributor, accounting for 42.8 percent of total revenue. Tourism-related taxes, including Departure Tax, Green Tax, TGST, and General Goods and Service Tax (GGST) saw an increase compared to the corresponding period of 2024. MIRA reports that this increase is primarily attributed to the extension of tax deadlines for February 2025, to 03 March 2025. Despite the increase in collection of other taxes, there was a decline in income tax revenue compared to March 2024. This decline is mainly due to the receipt of an advance bank profit tax payment of MVR426.0 million in March 2024.
MIRA collected MVR611.3 million in non-tax revenue during the month, with 60.6 percent of this revenue coming from receipts of Tourism Land Rent. In addition, the government received MVR162.3 million as Lease Period Extension Fee, paid for extending the lease period of islands or land leased for development of tourist resorts. The Ministry of Finance and Planning does not include such one-off payments in government revenue projections. Thus, the receipt of this fee has contributed to the actual monthly collection of March 2025 exceeding the projections.
MIRA reports that tourist arrivals of February 2025 decreased by 1.5 percent compared to February 2024. While the Ministry of Tourism and Environment has yet to publish the official monthly tourism statistics, the total collection of tourism-related revenues shows an increase compared to the corresponding period of 2024, suggesting that the collection includes revenue from enforcement measures and late payments. MIRA has highlighted that late payments are included in the actual monthly collection. However, the monthly collection report does not detail these payments. Breaking down such payments could provide a clearer picture of collection and compliance for each revenue type. MIRA collects approximately 70-75 percent of the total government revenue, while other major sources of revenue include collections by the Maldives Customs Services and grants that the government receives.
