Limbe shops shut down over new MRA electronic tax system

Business owners in Malawi’s commercial hub resist migration from EFD to Electronic Invoicing System

Shops have been closed and business is not moving normally in Limbe, Malawi, as owners protest against the migration from the Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) to the newly introduced Electronic Invoicing System (EIS) mode of tax payment.

A visit to Limbe township by Malawi24 shows shops, especially those owned by people of Indian origin, are closed with workers loitering outside. Non-essential shops including the giant five-storey Pacific Tower Building, which holds over 200 shops, are all shut.

Sources say the shops are to remain closed for the next three days or more.

A random interview around Limbe reveals that owners are against the upgraded digital method of accounting for value-added tax, while others are in the process of transitioning to the new system.

The resistance raises an uncomfortable question that few protesters are willing to answer publicly. The EIS works by automatically transmitting VAT data directly to MRA in real time, making it impossible for businesses to collect tax from customers and delay or withhold remittance to the revenue authority.

The old EFD system, by contrast, required manual submission of tax data — a process critics say created opportunities for businesses to collect VAT from customers but remit only a fraction, or nothing at all, to MRA. For honest businesses the new system changes nothing.

For those who have been using the gap between collection and remittance as an interest-free loan — or simply pocketing the difference — the EIS closes that window permanently. The protest, in that light, is less about resisting a new system and more about protecting an old arrangement that worked very well for those who abused it.

On 1 May 2026, the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) rolled out the EIS with an encouragement to business owners to migrate, complete the process and actively use the new system to comply with the new VAT regulations.

MRA had previously paused the rollout due to pressure from the same business owners, a decision that left several other taxpayers puzzled. MRA had not commented on the rationale for the pause, which was unpopular among many Malawians.