Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation has unveiled plans to review user fees and charges to reflect the true economic cost of providing social services and other public goods.
The review forms part of efforts to strengthen non-tax revenue performance at a time the fiscal space remains tight, with deficit projected at K3.1 trillion this financial year.
In its 2026 Economic and Fiscal Policy Statement, the ministry said the review is expected to improve the efficiency of non-tax revenue collection and management through business process reviews and the automation of government receipt and electronic payments for services.
effectively closed. | Nation
Reads the statement in part: “Government will continue implementing comprehensive reforms aimed at broadening the tax base and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue administration systems.”
Among others, user fees and charges include departmental receipts, road traffic fees, passport fees, surveys fees, lands application fees and court users fees, which feeds into non-tax revenue and other revenues.
In the 2025/26 financial year, the ministry projects domestic revenue at K4.4 trillion, with K4.3 trillion being tax revenue and the remainder K106 billion being other revenues.
The review of the user fees and charges comes at a time Treasury has introduced new tax measures, including increasing the value added tax rate from 16.5 percent to 17.5 percent as well as introducing bank and mobile money levies.
In a written response on Monday, Mzuzu University economics lecturer Christopher Mbukwa observed that the introduction of new tax and non-tax measures was inevitable.
He said unless rising public spending is managed, there is likely going to be new strategies for financing the same, including tax and non-tax measures such as user fees of goods and services.
Said Mbukwa: “These are the consequences of increasing public spending due to increased subsidies and other programmes.
“Raising user fees is aimed at financing the rising public expenditure.”
Economist Milward Tobias said on Monday that while charging cost-reflective fees on services that do not threaten livelihood, such as passport, driving license, certificate of fitness for vehicles is economically sound, it is the duty of government to address overexpenditure.
“The primary duty of any government is to facilitate delivery of goods and services to its people.
“How that is done, whether paid for fully, subsidised or fully free is a matter of policy design which takes into account the prevailing environments,” said the economist who contested in the presidential race in the September 16 General Election.
In his 2025/26 Mid-Year Budget Review Statement, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation Joseph Mwanamvekha observed that the fiscal space was effectively closed, leaving government unable to meet even the most basic obligations without resorting to borrowing
