Covid-19 disrupts MRA’s campaign
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has suspended the ‘Kuyiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ campaign amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic
In the campaign, which was launched last week Tuesday, a person is supposed to identify a trader who is evading Value Added Tax and gets a reward of K40,000 instantly.
MRA Head of Corporate Affairs Steven Kapoloma said in an interview Wednesday that the suspension was in a bid to protect the tax collecting body’s employees and the public.
“We are putting the live of taxpayers, the lives of the buyers and the lives of members of staff as a priority. We do recognise that the campaign had the potential to expose all of them to Covid-19,” Kapoloma said.
He added that some people had already won since it was introduced on Tuesday and that it would resume once the Covid-19 outlook becomes better.
Kapoloma added that the campaign was introduced to fight tax evasion and boost revenue collection.
“Consumers are the best inspectors of the Electronic Fiscal Device receipt and there are some traders who do not issue the receipt; so, we urged the public to make sure that they demand a receipt and if they have not been given, they should report to us and get a reward,” he added.
MRA reportedly loses a lot of money through tax evasion by traders who sometimes connive with buyers that receipts should not be generated in exchange for lower prices.
Justin Mkweu is a fast growing reporter who currently works with Times Group on the business desk.
He is however flexible as he also writes about current affairs and national issues.
