President Muizzu highlighted that USD 102 million in TGST, MVR 3.3 billion in GST, and MVR 1 billion in corporate income tax were not collected by previous governments.
The USD 513 million owed to the state has not been received due to the negligence of previous governments, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu said last night.
Speaking at an official ceremony at the Social Center on the occasion of Maldives' 59th Independence Day, President Muizzu criticized previous administrations for choosing the easy way out and leaving billions of funds unrecovered.
"This is money that should have been received legally, through law. In this regard, the state should have received land rent, which we did not receive when we took over, but should have received, the people's money," he said.
President Muizzu highlighted that USD 102 million in TGST, MVR 3.3 billion in GST, and MVR 1 billion in corporate income tax were not collected by previous governments.
“Even if we get this money alone, our debt problem will be solved,” he said.
He assured that efforts to recover these funds have already begun, with multiple parties starting to pay their dues upon receiving notices.
"God willing, we will get this done. The work has already started. Multiple parties have begun paying their dues. When they have received the letter, they have made their payments. They will pay when the effort is put into it," the President said.
President Muizzu emphasized that the government is committed to recovering these funds, even through legal means if necessary, and assured that he would reform the system to ensure proper procedures are followed.
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