Blackouts dents govt’s revenue

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Government failed to collect K7.6 billion in taxes in the month of August due to persistent blackouts, it has been revealed.

Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) said it collected K63.42 billion out of a projected K71.04 billion, missing the target by K7.6 billion.

Blackouts dents govt’s revenue.

The tax collector said the below par performance is due to weak collections in provisional tax, domestic excise and trade taxes and the expected reduction in profits from business due to blackouts.

According to a statement from MRA, the collector posted a total of MK26.17 billion in income and profits taxes which is against a projection of MK31.72 billion, representing 84 percent of the target.

In PAYE, MRA posted a total of MK16.42 billion against MK19.99 billion projection, which has been attributed to delays in remittances by some government departments.

The only good news is on Fringe Benefits (FBT) and Non-Resident Taxes (NRT) where a combined total of MK1.13 billion surpassed its monthly projection of MK777.29 million.

“This good performance was driven by an over-performance in both FBT (18%) and NRT (50%) against their targets of MK116.46 million and MK660million, respectively,” said MRA.

In July MRA collected K72.92 billion against a monthly projection of K74.36 billion.