Overview
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) is the national tax collector. It administers GST and TGST, green tax, corporate income tax and withholding taxes, publishes monthly collection figures, and audits resorts on a yearly cycle with a dedicated foreign-currency function. Tourism taxes are the treasury’s largest dollar-denominated income stream.
Role in the intelligence picture
MIRA links the Tourism Industry to the Government Fiscal Position. Because tourism taxes are charged and paid in US dollars, MIRA’s collections are also part of the national FX picture. Its audit reach matters in the FX dispute: our published analysis argues the state already knows, to the dollar, what every resort earns, which cuts against the claim that resort revenue is a black box feeding the parallel market.
Recent developments
- Year to 13 August 2026: GST raised MVR 10.7bn of the MVR 21bn tax take, per the Finance Ministry’s weekly report.
- 23 August 2026: the Majlis passed a GST Act amendment requiring foreign tour operators, overseas agents and offshore booking platforms to register with MIRA and charge 17 percent TGST from 1 October. The government projects MVR 1.6085bn a year; our analysis found the estimate arithmetically indefensible once input credits are applied, since GST reaches only the offshore margin.
- August 2026: our commentary framed GST as public money held in trust, arguing citizens fund the treasury and are entitled to scrutinise how it is spent.
Related topics
TGST · Tax Risk · Government Fiscal Position · Tourism Industry · Peoples Majlis · Foreign Exchange