It is criminal not to use EFDs—Mbilizi
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) acting commissioner general RozaMbilizi says value added tax (VAT) is a tax of the future, stressing that if all VAT-registered taxpayers remit the correct amount of tax, “a lot of things will come right in the country”.
Mbilizi said this on Friday at Institute of Tax Administration in Blantyre when she opened a one-day Taxation Training Workshop for members of the Association of Business Journalists (ABJ).
She was specifically commenting on the usage of electronic fiscal devices (EFDs)—a device that records all sales transactions and provides evidence of the same—which she said she is passionate about.
“It is quite disheartening that most traders do not use the machine. You are stealing from poor Malawians by not remitting VAT. If you continue doing that, the law will take its course because it is criminal,” warned Mbilizi.
“How else would one be so cruel to poor Malawians by not remitting VAT? The K500 000 fine [for defiant taxpayers] is not too much, considering the level of criminality of not remitting tax.”
Commenting the training, Mbilizi said taxation is a complex matter and touches on people’s lives, hence the need to have trained journalists who will relay the correct message to Malawians.
On his part, ABJ national coordinator Aubrey Mchulu thanked MRA for organising the training workshop, saying it had come at the right time.
MRA introduced EFDs in 2014, with the first phase rolling out on March 6 and the second on October 1. The assumption was to increase VAT collections by 20 percent.
