Malawians should expect tougher times ahead as the Bankers Association of Malawi (BAM) has announced the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on some banking transactions following the amendment of VAT Act by Malawi Government.
This is according to BAM’s press statement seen by this publication and signed by the association’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Lyness Nkungula.
In the statement, Nkungula said from 1st November this year, some banking services in the country will now attract a Value Added Tax of 16.5%.
She said the development follows the newly amended VAT Act in the previous sitting of Parliament.
“Bankers Association of Malawi on behalf of its members, CDH Investment bank, Ecobank Malawi ltd, First Capital Bank, FDH Bank plc, Standard Bank plc, Mybucks banking corporation, National Bank of Malawi plc, NBS bank ltd, would like to inform the general public that from 1st November, 2021, some banking services will attract Value Added Tax (VAT) at 16.5%.
“This is in accordance with the amendment of VAT act during the recent sitting of parliament,” reads the statement.
Though the association did not disclose which services will attract VAT, Malawi24 understand that the VAT will be on; on ATM transactions, money transfer to other banks and cash transfer to mobile wallets just to mention a few.
This is likely to be a burden to customers considering that there is already a normal service fee on most of these services.
