Malawi Revenue Authority collects K89 billion in December
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) managed to beat its target in December 2020, after it collected K89 billion in taxes.
Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda confirmed the development.
The figure is, however, shy of the K150 billion minimum target the Tonse Alliance-led government wishes the tax collecting body to be remitting to Capital Hill every month.
During a recent visit to the institution, Finance Minister Felix Mlusu challenged the body to collect up to K150 billion a month by being innovative and tap into sectors of the society that are not taxed.
The new figures were unveiled in Blantyre, where the tax-collecting body was launching Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa initiative on Tuesday.
MRA Head of Corporate Affairs Steven Kapoloma attributed the development to determination among its employees to reach their targets.
He added that they remained optimistic on beating targets despite shocks in trade patterns emanating from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have seen how Covid-19 affected us before and we have learnt from it how we can make sure that we mitigate the challenges.
“But it is an area that is new and it makes it difficult to tell how much it can affect us but our goal is to make sure that every tambala is collected whether there is Covid-19 or not,” Kapoloma said.
Tax expert Emmanuel Kaluluma observed that the highest contributor to the fete are the new tax measures employed by the government since November.
Kaluluma added that had it been that the measures followed the financial year and started working in July, MRA would have started collecting such good revenue earlier.
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.
