Rf 4.5 billion as last year

The income of the Maldives Inland Authority (MIRA) for year 2010 increased by 89% as a result of the imposition of new taxes last year, making the State’s income Rf 4.5 billion. The income of MIRA for the year 2010 was Rf 2.4 billion.

In last month’s report published today by MIRA, Rf 538 was received as income in December 2011 alone. This is an increase of Rf 225 million when compared with November 2011, for which the income was Rf 312 million.

The report says that the majority of MIRA’s income for December 2011 came from tourism lease rent, or the rent paid for islands leased for tourism. While Rf 1.2 billion was received as tourism lease rent last year, Rf 221 million was received in December alone. This is an increase of 9% when compared with the income from tourism lease rent for 2010.

While Rf 752 million was received by MIRA as tourism tax, Rf 666 million was received as tourism goods and services tax (GST). Rf 337 million was received last year as airport service charge. This is an increase of 849% when compared with 2010.

In addition, as of December 2011, Rf 256 million was received as GST, a goods and services tax which was introduced in September 2011. This includes Rf 169 million as GST from the tourism industry.

Even though the income from tourism industry increased significantly last year, the income from the fishing industry had drastically gone down. Rf 10 million was received in 2010 for the export of tuna; however, this amount went down by 89% last year resulting in Rf 1 million received from this sector. Moreover, the rent from islands leased for farming went down by 14%.