Calls to reform, broaden tax net
A tax expert has asked government to rework Malawi’s tax structure to include some eligible tax payers who are still outside the tax net.
The expert, Emmanuel Kaluluma, who works as a senior consultant at EK Tax Consultants, says the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) continues to miss its revenue targets not because it lacks capacity but because of the tax structure that Malawi is currently following.
“We need to invest heavily in ensuring that all eligible tax payers are taken on board and that they commit to the system. There is room for improvement because any tax system is supposed to respond to economic challenges and as Malawi, we cannot deny that we are going through turbulent times economically and our expectation is that the tax system should respond to such changes,” he said.
Kaluluma further said Malawi needs to reform its tax system as well as training tax officers to ensure that taxation issues are implemented efficiently.
“We have the capacity to finance the national budget with locally generated resources if the tax net is improved. There are people who are making money and are not in the tax net. But above all, government should have its priorities right. We should spend money where we have to spend and in accordance budget requirements,” he said.
Recently, MRA publicist Steve Kapoloma said the tax collection body is upbeat that positive developments in macro-economic indicators could lead to improvements in revenue collection in the coming months.
He said that MRA anticipates a peak in revenue collection beginning this month as the harvesting period begins.
