Tax Alert, 2 April 2023

The Waste Management Act ratified by the President of the Maldives on 18 December 2022, introduced a fee equivalent to MVR2 (Two Maldivian Rufiyaa) to be collected from plastic bags sold or provided at points of sale. The effective date of collection of the plastic bag fee is 18 April 2023.

This imposes certain administrative and compliance requirements on businesses selling goods. The resulting obligations falling on such businesses registered for Good and Services Tax are clearly outlined in the Act and further detailed in the Regulation on Collecting Plastic Bag Fee by Persons Registered for GST, published by the MIRA.

This issue of the Tax Alert focuses on the fee on plastic bags and covers the following:

  1. Overview of the fee on plastic bags
  2. Compliance & Administration
  3. Exemptions
  4. Penalties

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