The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through the Department of Tourism has embarked on an enforcement exercise of the 1 percent tourism levy.
According to a statement released by the ministry, the exercise which started on Monday is being conducted as stipulated in the Tourism and Hotels Act 50:01 of the laws of Malawi which provides that every designated tourism enterprise such as hotels and lodges should remit monthly tourism marketing levy.
The funds which the department collects are used for marketing Malawi as a perfect tourism destination.
As part of the enforcement campaign, the Department of Tourism has deployed a team of officers and auditors which is conducting the nationwide exercise to ensure that all tourism enterprises are remitting the levy every month.
“The Ministry is appealing to all tourism enterprises to have their records ready for inspection during this exercise as it is a requirement and the Department of Tourism is mandated to verify all levy remittances,” says the statement signed by the ministry’s principal secretary Cliff Chiunda.
It further advises enterprises such as hotels and lodges that it is illegal to collect levy and fail to remit it to the authorities by the 12th of the next month.
Meanwhile, all non-compliant units have been warned that they will be closed down during the exercise and will only be re-opened after clearing all outstanding levies.
Positive step!!!!
Reduce & scrap most of this rubbish to make Holiday Resorts affordable for Malawians.