President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has pledged to allocate a percentage of tax revenue earned from businesses to local councils.
At a meeting with residents of Keyodhoo during his official visit to Vaavu atoll, President Muizzu said tax laws will be amended to provide a portion of income collected by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) from various sources directly to councils in the future.
President Muizzu said he intends to submit amendments to both the tourism law and decentralization law in order to add a percentage of the tourism goods and services tax (T-GST) collected by island guesthouses through local tourism to increase the income of councils.
"The public and islands will start receiving those funds in the future," President Muizzu said.
Moreover, President Muizzu said it would ease the burden of annual expenditure from council budgets on public services and enable councils to operate directly from decentralized income earned by the island.
The change would bring contentment and distribute the country's income among the people, President Muizzu said.
Councils have long advocated for a portion of state revenue and T-GST to be earmarked for local government.
