ATOR said that the Maldives want to “bite off the loaf” of taxes in Russia

The tourism business pays in Russia taxes on the margin from the sale of tourist services in all countries where Russians go, told Radio RBC Vice President of the Association of tour operators of Russia (ATOR) Arthur Muradyan.

The Maldives “suddenly decided to bite off the loaf, which we bake exclusively in the interests of the homeland.” He commented on the decision of the Maldives government on new taxes on travel services, which will oblige foreign operators, including Russian ones, to register with the local tax service and pay a tax of 17%.

“We in ATOR clearly do not have a very strong idea on what grounds this payment will be, if it is made,” Muradyan said. The Maldivian authorities do not understand the situation with sanctions, which make direct payments between countries impossible.

The lack of a clear mechanism and the desire of tour operators to register will lead to the fact that “no one will actually” observe it. “And in fact, I think that it should be canceled,” concluded the Vice-President of ATOR.

The Republic of Maldives expects that the innovations in the tax legislation will annually bring additional revenues to the state in the amount of about 1.61 billion Maldivian Rufi (more than $104 million). Of these, about 299.3 million Maldivian Rufi (over $19 million) are expected to come from foreign travel agents, another 1.31 billion (almost $85 million) from foreign tour operators. Last summer, the Maldives increased the TGST (Tourism Goods and Services Tax) rate from 16 to 17 percent.

On September 24, ATOR asked the Maldives government to exclude Russian companies from the new tax rules. ATOR sent an official appeal to the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation of the Republic of Maldives and informed the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia about these risks.