Parliament begins MVR 15 billion debt recovery
Some people who commented on Nazim's post on X said taxes were not being paid because the government owed businesses millions of Rufiyaa, for services rendered.
By
Ahmed Naif
The Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament has decided to recover more than MVR 15 billion owed to the government by businesses and others.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim on Saturday published details of money owed to the state by various parties in his official X account.
Revealing the figures, he said in his post that the commissioner of the tax authority, MIRA, will be summoned to the Public Accounts Committee meeting on Tuesday
He added in the post that the state must recover the money that is being owed. He said there was no other way. Nazim said it should be clear why the money was not received.
"We have to dive to the bottom of it," Nazim wrote in X.
According to the figures released by Nazim, the amount of taxes and penalties owed by various parties stands at MVR 7.8 billion. The non-tax figure stood at MVR 7.7 billion.
That totals MVR 15.4 billion.
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The largest amount of tax outstanding is GST, which amounts to MVR 3.3 billion
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The second largest amount is TGST at MVR 1.7 billion
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MVR 1.1 billion in unpaid corporate income tax
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MVR 416.9 million from unpaid business profit tax
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MVR 414.2 million from unpaid airport taxes and fees
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MVR 289.4 million from unpaid green tax
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MVR 110.4 million from unpaid plastic bag tax
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MVR 236.1 million from unpaid withholding taxes
In addition, the amount of money that the government has not received as rent for resorts and other lands is high. They include:
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MVR 6.9 billion in rent and CSR
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MVR 80.5 million not received from islands rented long-term for agriculture
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MVR 670.7 million from other fees
According to the figures, direct taxes and rents stood at MVR 9.6 billion. The penalty for non-payment of these amounted to MVR 5.9 billion.
Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations on Friday, President Mohamed Muizzu said the state is owed USD 513 million due to the negligence of previous governments. The President said:
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With the government beginning working to recover the money, various parties have already started paying it
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If the money is not received, he will take it to the courts and will not give up on it
"We will recover the money [unpaid to the state]. We have started the work now. A lot of people have started paying. They pay when we send a letter. One needs to work at something for results”.
Some people who commented on Nazim's post on X said other taxes such as GST were not paid because the government had not paid millions of Rufiyaa to companies for goods and services provided to the government.
"The government has not paid [private companies] for four years and is still chasing the tax money. There is no solution to this problem. We don't have many options," a person by the name Kuda Riza said on X.
Another commenter using the handle Ismail Ahmed said that the electricity is being cut off from places due to non-payment of bills despite the government owing them millions of Rufiyaa.
"The government should complain about money it is owed after giving the people what they are owed. This is bullying," he said.
In addition, some people said that the information of those who have not paid the state should be disclosed. Some people said that it is information that the public should know.
Others are of the opinion that the unpaid money to the state should be recovered without looking at a particular person and then spending it on resolving major issues such as housing.
