Civil Court has ruled that it is the Maldives government that must pay the GST due to the State by the Chinese company that undertook the project of the construction of Dharumavantha Hospital.
The construction of the 25 storey building of the Dharumavantha Hospital was contracted to China's Chang Hua Construction company during former President Abdulla Yameen's administration. The project cost USD 140 million and the building is currently in use.
Chang Hua Construction submitted a case to the Civil Court where they claimed the USD 140 million is the cost of the project alone and does not include GST, and sought a ruling from the Court that the Maldives' government must bear the costs of GST that the company is expected to pay to State of Maldives.
Last week's Civil Court ruling in the case stated that, in consideration of the agreement, including the amendments brought to it in 2018, it is evident that the cost of the 25 storey building is set at USD 140 million without including GST or any other taxes. It read that as a result, the Court finds that it is the Government of Maldives that must bear the costs of paying the GST owed by the company to the State of Maldives in relation to said project.
The ruling further ordered the Maldives Government to reimburse within a period of one month the amount of MVR 227,000 that Chang Hua Construction has already paid as GST to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).
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