The government’s committed clampdown on undocumented foreign workers in the country has led to a significant increase in revenue collection from expatriate workers’ related fees.
According to the 2024 annual report of Maldives inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), revenue collections from work permit fees and expatriate quota fees last year, had exceeded estimates.
The expatriate quota fees showed the highest increase, recording USD 28 million last year, comfortably bypassing estimated USD 16.6 million Rs 255.43 million. Last year, USD 19.1 million was collected for 147,334 quotas while USD 8.9 million was collected as partial payments.
The fee is estimated based on the proportion of quota allocated, MIRA said. However, with the introduction of the installments option, the revenue collected exceeded estimates, as most of the outstanding amounts were paid in installments, it added.
The second biggest contributor to the boost was the increase in revenue collections from work permit fees of foreigners. Work permit fee is charged from foreigners working in the country at the rate of around USD 22.7 per month.
The government, in its forecasts, had estimated to collect USD 35.9 million from work permit fees for foreigners last year. However, at the end of the year, the figure stood at USD 43.5 million which is an increase of 21.4 percent compared to the estimates.
According to MIRA, the increase in foreign workers’ related fees was a result of the strict enforcement measures taken by the Immigration Department to address the longstanding issue of undocumented foreigners working in the Maldives.
Last year also saw a significant improvement in the compliance rate of expats’ related fees payments compared to 2023, which stood at 22 percent. However, the figure has now risen to more than 50 percent, the government had said in April.
When the incumbent government took over in November 2023, USD 123.2 million in foreign workers’ related fees was outstanding, which has since been slashed to around USD 58 million within this short period.