The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has published an English-language version of the 26th Amendment to the Goods and Service Tax Regulations (2020/R-49). Published in the original language on 26 June 2020, some of the main amendments include the following:

• Regarding exports, which are zero-rated (subject to a 0% GST rate), it is provided that goods and services exported from the Maldives refers to:
  • goods exported or re-exported under a registration with the Maldives Customs Service to export or re-export;
  • goods supplied by duty free shops; and
  • services exported by a registered person;
• Regarding the deduction of tax paid on irrecoverable debts, the requirement to obtain prior approval from the Commissioner General (Section 59 of the Regulations) is repealed and Section 60(a) is amended to provide that where a registered person has written off a bad debt in accordance with the Regulations, the registered person may make a deduction as input tax of that portion of the amount of tax charged in relation to that supply as the amount written off as a bad debt bears to the total consideration for the supply;
• Regarding the use, transfer, and sale of goods imported to the Maldives, a new Section 113-2 is inserted in the Regulations, which provides the following:
• where a registered individual imports goods for own use and subsequently sells or transfers the goods to another person, the registered individual shall account for GST on that transaction;
• where a registered individual imports goods for a purpose other than own use, and subsequently sells or transfers the goods to another person, or utilize the goods for the individual’s own use, the registered individual shall account for GST on that transaction; and
• where a registered person other than an individual imports goods, and sells or transfers the goods to another person, the registered person shall account for GST on that transaction.

Further to the above, amendments are made regarding applications to deregister or for removal from the register and regarding the value of chartering vessels.

The amendments are effective from the original date of publication, 26 June 2020.