Ministry of Finance has revealed the local councils will accept annual fees for vehicles and vessels from January 1, 2023.
In the circular signed by Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer said in order to transfer the collection of annual fees of vehicles and vessels to councils, Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has decided to stop collecting these fees by the end of the year. From next month, annual fees for vehicles and vessels will be collected from respective councils through a system prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, stated the circular. However, for the collection of annual fees, the bank accounts of the councils must be integrated with the Bandeyri Pay of the finance ministry before December 2022.
The circular stated from next month onwards, the annual fees will be deposited into the bank accounts of the councils integrated with Bandeyri Pay as notified by the Local Government Authority (LGA). If the bank account of any council is not integrated with Bandeyri Pay by the end of the period, the fee belonging to that council will be credited to the public bank account. Therefore, the finance ministry has advised the councils to complete the required work before December 2022, if their bank accounts are not already integrated with Bandeyri Pay.
Furthermore, the finance ministry is working to transfer the revenue accumulated in the public bank account as annual fees for vehicles and vessels to the councils. Meanwhile, the revenue from fees for services provided through the councils and the rent of the land under the jurisdiction of the council will be paid directly to the councils.