Government to transfer Customs’ fiscal mandate to Finance amid MVR 461 million in unpaid dues

Finance Minister Hassan Zareer said Thursday that the fiscal mandate of Maldives Customs will be transferred to the Ministry of Finance next year.  

Presenting details of the upcoming year’s budget in Parliament, Zareer said the government intends to strengthen the implementation of revenue policies and accelerate enforcement. As part of this shift, the budget proposes moving Customs’ fiscal mandate under the Finance Ministry to consolidate oversight and improve compliance.

Customs currently collects import duties, border GST and several fees. However, the recently released Financial Audit Report of Customs for 2023 shows that MVR 461 million owed to the agency remains unpaid. Although temporary suspension of services and other measures were taken to recover outstanding dues, only MVR 10,164,272 was collected in May last year. The audit notes that MVR 162.9 million is now under court-order enforcement.

According to the breakdown of outstanding amounts, the largest share is import duty at MVR 435.8 million. The audit also lists MVR 21.1 million in penalties, MVR 1.9 million in revenue fees, MVR 1.9 million in royalties, and MVR 92,203 in bond and processing fees.