Cross-border traders took to the streets of Lilongwe Monday, when they demonstrated over the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA)’s decision to introduce tax stamps on imported goods. In essence, a tax stamp is not a tax but a compliance tool for ensuring that imported and manufactured goods have gone through the normal channel and that taxes have been duly paid before they are granted entry into a country. A tax stamp is a physical or digital sticker on a product to indicate that excise tax has been paid. The protests by the traders came at a time MRA and their representatives signed a joint communique on August 7 this year, when both parties committed that all small-scale businesses under the simplified trade regime would be allowed to affix tax stamps until all administrative concerns had been addressed by MRA.
