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“MRA won’t retreat on non-compliant taxpayers”

The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has vowed that it will not pull back on all non-compliant taxpayers in the country who are depriving the country of the much-needed revenue for public service delivery.

MRA Head of Corporate Affairs, Steven Kapoloma has said this in the context of the authority’s on-going crack-down on businesses and organisations who are not issuing Electronic Fiscal Devises (EFD) receipts.

MRA officials captured sealing a shop belonging to a non-compliant trader


On Monday, June 21, 2021, the tax collecting body commenced a nationwide clampdown on the unscrupulous taxpayers, an exercise which saw a Blantyre-based social joint, The Palace, being found contravening the law.

All Value Added Tax (Vat) registered traders are supposed to issue an EFD receipt in tandem with Section 46 of the VAT Act, failure of which attracts a minimum penalty of K500,000.

Speaking to The Nation, Kapoloma reiterated the authority’s stance that the law will continue to take its course as all businesses that are not issuing the receipts in the line with the stipulation of the law.

“MRA has lined up all businesses that were penalised for non-issuance of EFD receipts and their mandatory period of 21 days to pay penalties has elapsed.

The operations are currently underway and we have started with The Palace in Blantyre who owe Malawians K3.1 million in taxes for non-issuance of EFD receipts,” said Kapoloma.


He said businesses that do not issue EFD receipt deprive Malawians of Vat, which is one key source of domestic revenue that Treasury uses in the implementation of the national budget.
Kapoloma added: “Our call to the offenders is that they must swiftly settle their due taxes and penalties before we visit them.”

The Authority further commits to continue raising awareness countrywide among buyers about the importance of demanding EFD receipts while making sure that VAT registered businesses fulfil their obligations to issue EFD receipts for every sale.

MRA, according to Kapoloma, further commits to continue raising awareness across the country among buyers about on the importance of demanding EFD receipts while making sure that Vat registered businesses fulfil their obligations to issue EFD receipts for every transaction.

Meanwhile, as MRA has intensified is tightening all loose ends in the national tax buffer, on one hand, Finance Minister Felix Mlusu is also upbeat that all  revenue measures that the Tonse Alliance administration is putting in place have already started bearing fruits.

“It is for this reason that MRA is well on course to surpass its revenue target for the 2020/2021 financial year with only a few days to close the fiscal year. Government is therefore, optimistic that the set domestic revenue target for 2021/2022 financial year will be achieved,” Mlusu said on Tuesday in his speech winding up debate on the proposed 2021/22 budget in parliament.

Recently, MRA wound up its ‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ campaign whose main objective was to encourage Vat registered traders to issue EFD receipts all the time.

Under the campaign, anyone in the four cities of Mzuzu, Zomba, Lilongwe and Blantyre stood an equal chance of winning K40,000 prompt cash reward or more from MRA.


In the end, the campaign disbursed a total of K25.9 million in cash rewards with a total number1, 094 cases reported, while a total of K347.6 million in revenue was collected by the institution.

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