Customs Fiscal Mandate to Move Under Finance Ministry

Finance Minister Hassan Zareer announced today that the fiscal mandate of Maldives Customs will be moved under the Ministry of Finance next year. While presenting the proposed budget for next year in the People's Majlis, Zareer stated that measures have been decided to further strengthen the implementation of revenue policies and to expedite the work required to increase the share from these policies. Accordingly, he said that the fiscal mandate of Maldives Customs will be proposed in the budget to be maintained by the Ministry of Finance. The money entrusted to Customs includes import duty, border GST, and various fees. According to the financial audit report of Customs for the year 2023 released recently by the Auditor General's Office, out of the money due to Customs by the end of 2023, 461 million rufiyaa has not been received. Although temporary measures such as suspending services were taken to recover this money, when information was collected in May of last year, the audit states that only 10,164,272 rufiyaa had been received from that amount. Furthermore, the report notes that out of the uncollected money, 162.9 million rufiyaa is money that has been ordered by courts to be paid and is currently in the enforcement stage of the judgment. Looking at the details of the uncollected money, the audit states that the largest portion is the 435.8 million rufiyaa due as import duty. Additionally, it mentions 21.1 million rufiyaa due as fines, 1.9 million rufiyaa as revenue fees, 1.9 million rufiyaa as royalties, and 92,203 rufiyaa due as various fees such as bond fees and processing fees.