The Parliamentary Committee for Industry, trade and tourism says the introduction of the stamp duty by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) is aimed at protecting the local industry from competition with foreign companies.
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Committee Chairperson Paul Nkhoma made the sentiments after visiting one of the areas which are routes that smugglers use called Salati in Dedza to appreciate the initiatives put by the tax body to improve revenue collection.
He stressed that the stamp duty aims at reducing smuggling meaning that every product that has been imported in the country and has been paid for will have these stamps.
“The stamp duty they’re trying to curb smuggling so that we can raise tax revenues but also they’re trying to protect some of the industries so for example you take Fanta and several other drinks that are coming in through there. These are drinks that Malawians and Malawian companies also produce.
“Once we depend on importing on things that we can produce here, we are actually exporting our jobs. If these companies which produce Cocacola for example and all other drinks were producing, they’ll be able to recruit a lot more people than they’re actually doing now.
So Malawians must also understand that any import that we’re consuming means we have exported a job or two” he enthused
Additionally, the revenue collection body plans to introduce drones which will be patrolling the borders in order to catch the smugglers coming in with trucks.
Among others, the Committee’s visit with MRA officials unearthed how huge the problem of smuggling is in the area with cyclists and others on small-scale involved in the malpractice and the same border being busy with trucks that bring in smuggled goods.
Nkhoma revealed that when the smugglers come to the Committee, they bring their complaints on their relationship with MRA to Parliament.
He indicated that MRA is expected to perform certain functions approved by the National Assembly and have been tasked with tax collection in order to help in running government.
The Chairperson highlighted the conflict between the business community and the institution entrusted by government to be collecting money.
“We still have to come in and help MRA to do their job properly because we all know we need the money to run the various services. So I’d like to call on Malawians that instead of fighting MRA, if they have complaints let them come again to their Parliament.
“So when you have these figures like 16%, 10 % those numbers are approved by Parliament, so mostly what people are complaining about is not to pay tax; but the taxes are high given the environment in which we are working.
“I’d like to urge the Malawian society to appreciate that paying taxes is a duty for all of us because we pay tax in order to receive the services that we’re looking for in health, agriculture; AIP comes from taxes. Any drugs and everything that we depend government for comes from taxes and that is very important for Malawians to understand”.
On the health front, Chair for Health Committee of Parliament Dr. Mathews Ngwale indicated that the situation on the ground points to the fact that most people in Malawi are drinking spirits such as brandy and whisky which are very poisonous and are manufactured in Mozambique.
“These are being made in Mozambique, the Mozambicans are buying the spirits from Press Cane which is industrial alcohol instead of the consumable alcohol which is sold in Dwangwa.
“Therefore our people are in danger because of this and it is something that we have to look out for. We’ve been told that MRA is introducing these stamps on products and therefore when people go to the drinking joints or wherever they buy the spirits, they should look out for the MRA stamp
“The advantage of that is the fact that the stamped products are the ones that have paid tax to the government of Malawi. Money from taxes helps government to construct roads to make drugs available in hospitals, to recruit new nurses and other doctors.” said Ngwale.
