The Tax Administration Regulation (Regulation Number 2013/R-45) shall be amended as follows:

1. Amend Section 3 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

3. Registration

Where MIRA believes that a person is required to be registered under a tax act or regulation based on information received under Section 21(b) of the Act or otherwise, the Commissioner General may, at his discretion, register that person with MIRA under the relevant act or regulation, and notify the person of such registration.

2. Amend Section 4 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

4. Responsible person 

(a) Where the person applying for registration under a tax act or regulation is not an individual, such person shall appoint a responsible person pursuant to Section 22 of the Act.

(b) Where a responsible person is not appointed by a company or partnership pursuant to subsection (a), the responsible person of that company or partnership shall be deemed to be:

(1) In the case of a company, the managing director of the company;

(2) In the case of a partnership, the managing partner of the partnership.

(c) Where the person applying for registration under a tax act or regulation is an individual, then the person shall have the discretion to appoint a responsible person at the time of such application.

(d) The responsible person shall cooperate with MIRA and shall fully comply with the person’s obligations stated in the tax acts and regulations.

3. Amend Section 6 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

6. Change of information

Upon the occurrence of one of the following events, the taxpayer or the responsible person of the taxpayer shall notify MIRA within 15 (fifteen) days from the occurrence of that event.

(a) Commencement of an additional business activity by the taxpayer;

(b) Change of any information provided to MIRA relating to the taxpayer or a business activity conducted by the taxpayer;

(c) Change of the responsible person appointed by the taxpayer or any information relating to the responsible person.

4. Amend Section 7 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

7. Penalty for the offence of non-registration

(a) Where a person required to register under a tax act or regulation fails to register, that person shall be subject to a penalty of MVR 50 (Fifty Rufiyaa) for each day of delay, under Section 65(b)(2) of the Act. The criminal penalty for such offence shall be house arrest of the offender for a period of between 1 (one) and 6 (six) months.

(b) The total amount of the penalty imposed under subsection (a) shall not exceed MVR 5,000 (Five Thousand Rufiyaa).

5. Amend Section 11(a) of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

11. Sending and receiving documents via email

(a) Documents submitted to MIRA through email by persons registered with MIRA under a tax act or regulation, shall be emailed from the person’s email address registered with MIRA.

6. Insert a subsection after Section 23(a)(15) of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

23. (a) (16)  Information available on commercial databases.

7. Insert a subsection after Section 23(b-2) of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

23. (b-3) For the purpose of determining the amount of tax required to be paid under Section 39(a) of the Act, the arm’s length price of a controlled transaction entered into between associated parties may be determined using the transfer pricing methods specified in Section 8(e) of the Transfer Pricing Regulation (Regulation number 2020/R-43).

8. Repeal Section 25 of the aforementioned Regulation:

25. Changes to the amount determined by MIRA (Repealed).

9. Amend Section 36 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

36. Amending the decision of the Commissioner General or the decision of MIRA

Based on the objection raised in accordance with this Chapter, the decision of the Commissioner General or the decision of MIRA may be amended in part or in full, or it may be affirmed as correct.

10. Insert a section after Section 71 of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

71-1. Computation of the periods

(a) Unless specified otherwise in the Act or this Regulation, public holidays and Government holidays shall not be included in computing the periods specified in days in the Act or this Regulation.

(b) Unless specified otherwise in that policy, public holidays and Government holidays shall not be included in computing the periods specified in a policy formulated by MIRA.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), public holidays and Government holidays shall be included in computing the period specified in Section 43(a) of the Act. However, where the last day of that period falls on a public holiday or Government holiday, the first official working day following that public holiday or Government holiday shall be considered the last day of the period.

11. Repeal Section 77(b) of the aforementioned Regulation:

77. (b) (Repealed).

12. Amend the definition of “business” specified in Section 77(c) of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

77. (c) “Business” shall have the same meaning as in Section 79(y) of the Income Tax Act (Law Number 25/2019).

13. Amend the definition of “business premises” specified in Section 77(c) of the aforementioned Regulation as follows:

 77. (c) “Business premises” refers to a place where a business as specified in Section 79(y) of the Income Tax Act (Law Number 25/2019) is conducted.

14. Remove the definition of “Person conducting business in the Maldives” specified in Section 77(c) of the aforementioned Regulation.

15. This Regulation shall have effect from the date of its publication in the Government Gazette.