Tax in Maldives

Who is the tax authority?

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) administers the tax system. MIRA sits under the Ministry of Finance in Malé.

The core legislation is the Income Tax Act 25/2019 (effective 1 April 2020) and the Goods and Services Tax Act. The Business Profit Tax Act introduced corporate taxation in 2011. Maldives is a SAARC member and a Common Reporting Standard (CRS) adopter.

What is the tax year and when are returns due?

The Maldives tax year is the calendar year (1 January to 31 December).

Who counts as a Maldives tax resident?

A person is a Maldives tax resident under the Income Tax Act if physically present for 183 days or more in the tax year.

Residents pay tax on worldwide income. Non-residents pay tax only on Maldives-source income. The rule applies to both citizens and foreign nationals.

Deep-dive: see expat and cross-border tax in Maldives for the practical rules around mid-year arrivals and resort-island workers.

What are the personal income tax rates?

Personal income tax was introduced on 1 April 2020 — before that date, Maldives had no PIT. The tax uses five bands above a MVR 720,000 annual allowance (roughly USD 47,000).

How does Business Profit Tax work?

Business Profit Tax (BPT) replaced the earlier tax-free corporate era. It was introduced in 2011 — before that, the Maldives had no corporate income tax at all.

Withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents is 10% under the Income Tax Act. The Maldives is not an OECD Inclusive Framework member, so Pillar Two global minimum tax does not directly apply. Loss carry-forward provisions follow the Income Tax Act 25/2019.

Deep-dive: see small business tax in Maldives for the MVR 500,000 BPT threshold in practice.

What about GST and other indirect taxes?

The Maldives has two distinct GST rates — one for the general economy and a significantly higher rate for tourism services. This dual-rate system is distinctive in South Asia.

GST registration is mandatory once annual turnover exceeds a registration threshold. Businesses on resort islands typically register for T-GST from inception given the high per-night rates involved.

Deep-dive: see VAT and sales tax in Maldives for full T-GST mechanics and registration rules.

Tourism economy and the "one island, one resort" model

The Maldives tax system cannot be understood without understanding tourism. The government leases individual uninhabited islands to resort developers on 25–50-year terms. Each leased island hosts exactly one resort — private, exclusive, and physically separated from inhabited Maldivian communities.

This model concentrates T-GST and Green Tax revenue from a geographically dispersed set of leased island resorts. The Ministry of Tourism island-lease framework interacts directly with BPT and T-GST registration.

Meet a Maldives taxpayer

Dhivehi resort manager, Malé

Currency: Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR)

Islamic law and the secular tax framework

Maldives is a Sunni Muslim state. The Constitution makes Sunni Islam the state religion, and Islamic law (Shafi'i school) applies in personal status matters — marriage, divorce, inheritance.

The tax framework is secular. There is no zakat-offset mechanism in the income tax code, nor any formal integration between religious charitable obligations and statutory tax. Businesses operating on inhabited islands coexist with sharia-governed personal-status law; resort islands have historically operated under separate social rules that permit the sale of alcohol.

How are cryptoassets treated?

Maldives has no dedicated cryptoasset tax framework. The Maldives Monetary Authority has issued cautionary guidance, but there is no formal classification of crypto gains under the Income Tax Act. Where cryptoasset activity is declared, it would fall under general income or profit categories by analogy.

Deep-dive: see crypto taxation in Maldives for how MMA guidance applies in practice.

What is the treaty network?

The Maldives has one of the thinnest double tax agreement networks in South Asia — approximately 3 active bilateral treaties. There is no US DTA and no UK DTA.

The SAARC framework provides some regional context, but SAARC is not a tax-treaty equivalent — it does not reduce withholding rates or prevent double taxation in the way a bilateral DTA does. The absence of a US or UK treaty is a significant gap for the large diaspora communities in those countries.

Deep-dive: see tax treaty relief in Maldives for bilateral rate schedules.

Where does Maldives sit in the regional cohort?

Maldives anchors the Indian Ocean island state + climate-vulnerable cohort alongside Sri Lanka, Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles. The wider cohort also includes Pacific climate-vulnerable micro-states.

Common pitfalls and cross-border traps

Foreign companies and individuals operating in Maldives encounter a consistent set of traps:

When should you talk to a Maldives tax pro?

Some situations call for a qualified Maldives practitioner:

• Your annual income exceeds MVR 720,000 and PIT applies to you for the first time
• You operate a resort, guesthouse, or liveaboard vessel and need to navigate both T-GST at 16% and Green Tax
• You are a non-resident investor receiving dividends from a Maldivian company (10% withholding, no US/UK treaty relief)
• You are restructuring a business that could be classified as banking by MIRA (25% surcharge applies)
• You received a MIRA assessment, audit notice, or penalty
• You are a returning Maldivian diaspora member from the UK or Australia with pre-existing offshore income
• You need to determine whether a new enterprise falls under the BPT MVR 500,000 threshold

You can find vetted Maldives practitioners through the directory below.

This page is general information. It is not personal guidance for your specific situation. Tax rules change. Always verify current figures with MIRA or a licensed Maldives practitioner before filing.