Tax window is not a bait to defaulters—MRA

The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has said the opening of the Voluntary Compliance Window (VCW) to tax defaulters to regularise their liabilities without penalties is not a bait to trap them.

Speaking at Protea Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre last week during a VCW awareness cocktail, MRA commissioner general, John Biziwick said that the tax collector is aware of the economic problems that businesses experienced between 2010 and 2012 which resulted into a significant increase in tax default rate.

The window is an opportunity availed by the tax collector to all tax defaulters including income corporate tax, withholding tax, value added tax, pay as you earn (PAYE) which opened on November 1 and runs through to January 31 2014.

He added that MRA has noted positive developments in the economy and would like to encourage willing taxpayers to come back to compliance levels to ensure fairness and equity.

During the function which involved business captains, Biziwick noted that over the past years MRA has seen good taxpayers become bad because businesses have been collecting taxes on behalf of MRA only to rechannel it into working capital for survival.

“The programme has now rolled out in full. All our stations are ready to receive applications and they have already started to receive applications. All submissions will be treated with utmost confidentiality,” said Biziwick.

He, however, added that the window does not mean that the tax collector has failed to get the defaulter noting they will be caught after the window expires if they do not take the opportunity.

Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) president Matthews Chikakheni speaking at the same function encouraged businesses to regularise their taxes liabilities for the benefit of the nation.