In a bid to deal with rising cases of tax evasion in the country, the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has announced that it will from this coming Sunday, May 1, implement a new tax on imports, known as Advance Income Tax (AIT).
Briefing journalists in Blantyre on Tuesday, MRA Deputy Commissioner for Customs and Excise Facilitation, Chimwemwe Kawalewale, said the Advance Income Tax, which is charged on imports of commercial goods, was introduced to level the playing field and ensure that all businesses are paying their fair share of taxes.
However, Kawalewale said if one is a compliant registered taxpayer, then he or she would not be subjected to AIT because MRA would have issued the taxpayer with a valid Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) or Withholding Tax Exemption Certificate.
He said for a long time, MRA has been accused of not doing enough to bring the informal sector into the tax net and enhance tax compliance and that has put a lot of burden on few tax payers.
“The implementation of AIT is, therefore, one of those measures we are employing to register more people into the tax net and grow the tax base,” Kawalewale said.
