Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has asked Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) to enhance the fight against tax evasion to ensure that lost revenue is redirected into public coffers.

Speaking yesterday when MRA officials appeared before the committee at Parliament Building in Lilongwe to explain issues of public finance management at the tax body, PAC chairperson Mark Botomani expressed concern over porous borders which have led to the flourishing of cross-border smuggling.

He said MRA should put offices in strategic places, mount ad hoc roadblocks and patrol routes that people use to smuggle goods into and outside the country.

Said Botomani: “Some goods are smuggled through water bodies, there is a need to patrol areas where they offload or load the goods along these water bodies.”

He said if the country can successfully fight tax evasion, government would generate more revenue to support various social services.

Biziwick: We have several measures in place

Botomani, who is Zomba Chisi legislator, also called on MRA to work with the police and Immigration Department to fight smuggling.

In his presentation, MRA commissioner general John Biziwick said tax evasion takes several forms, including under-declaration or undervaluing of goods or services and non-payment of tax.

He said MRA is putting in place measures to curb tax evasion, but there is need for community participation in the fight.

Biziwick said: “Among the measures that we have put in place are scanners to check goods at the borders, inland examination centres to examine goods and patrols.”

He said MRA also plans to introduce drones to trace smuggling activities.

“There are also other ways which we should be able to counter, that is the use of drones, which the World Bank has promised to purchase for us,” said Biziwick.

MRA head of corporate affairs Steven Kapoloma said community engagement is vital if the country is to win the fight against smuggling.

He said MRA is conducting community mobilisation campaigns in the hotspot districts and it is seeing communities taking part in fighting smuggling.

Kapoloma said: “We are working together with the chiefs and community leaders to become our ears and eyes on the ground and report to us.

“We are running an informant scheme where one can get a reward as high as K500 000.”

He said through these efforts, MRA has managed to beat the target for the past months by K8 billion which shows that “people are able to appreciate importance of paying taxes.”

The committee is also scheduled to engage the Malawi Police Service and Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services on the matter.

Cumulatively, the revenue body has in the first half of this fiscal year collected K748.89 billion against its target of K742.22 billion.

Data shows that in April, June, July and August 2022, MRA beat its target by K5.94 million, K2.54 million, K1.07 million and K10.08 million, collecting K130.51 billion, K119.921 billion, K142.99 billion and K131.19 billion, respectively.

However, in May and September, MRA missed its target by K9.02 million and K3.95 million, collecting K104.679 billion and K119.59 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, MRA is targeting to collect K396.43 billion in the third quarter which represents a 24.33 percent increase from K318.85 billion collected during a similar period last year.

In the 2022/23 fiscal year, MRA projects to collect K1.52 trillion, an 18 percent increase from the previous year.

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