Treasury consulting on Scotland tax waiver proposal

Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development says it is consulting on how to respond to a request by the Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) for a tax waiver on capital goods meant for its projects.

The ministry’s director of economic planning and development Joram Banda disclosed this during a MaSP 2019 Annual Symposium in Lilongwe on Tuesday.

He said the department has already engaged some relevant bodies on how to address the request.

“That is a very relevant concern but as you know, we need to follow the procedure so at the moment we are consulting on how best to handle the request. As soon as we are ready, we will communicate,” said Banda.

MaSP secretariat requested the department for a possible tax waiver to facilitate smooth  implementation of its projects by the implementing institutions whose project budgets are affected by tax on capital goods, according to MaSP board chairperson Annie Phoya.

“The challenge most project implementers present in their reports is that their budgets are affected by taxes imposed on capital goods so we requested government through the Department of Economic Planning and Development to introduce a waiver,” said Phoya.

British High Commissioner to Malawi Holly Tett said through the partnership, her government has supported Malawi in health, agriculture, water and sanitation and citizen participation in development activities.

She said the bond between Malawi and Britain was established to benefit the people of the two countries through achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The symposium was organised to share the new Scottish Government International Development Strategy and seek Malawian input as well as to allow stakeholders share notes on the projects they are implementing and the progress. n