NEW BUDGET CHARGES 1% TAX ON MOBILE MONEY – Malawi News Online

Presenting the full 2019/20 National Budget, the Minister of Finance, Joseph Mwanamvekha, revealed that government has introduced a 1% tax on all non-bank mobile transactions, based on the transaction amount.

According to the finance minister, the development is aimed at ensuring that a large number of citizens are motivated to contribute towards national building through payment of taxes and ensure that Government has scope to improve service delivery.

The development comes amidst banks integrating with mobile money platforms, to ease transactions. With the platforms already charging a fee on the transactions, the move may be discouraging, while on the other hand, stakeholders will hold Government accountable to the earnings made from the transaction, where national development is concerned.

In mid August, figures from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Second Quarter National Payment Systems Report, show an increase in both volume and value of retail DFS transactions. The report shows that total volume upped by 14.5% to 72.3 million whereas the corresponding value increased by 39 percent to K1 billion. However, a comparison to the similar period in 2018 shows more pronounced movement as the volume and value increased by 46.1% and 125.3%, respectively.