Parliament of the Maldives has passed the motion to discontinue the use of revenue stamps. The motion was passed with votes from 44 parliamentarians present at the sitting.
The motion submitted by majority leader Ali Azim stated the cost of imposing the law on revenue stamps is not worth the income received by the government. The motion stated the income from revenue stamps could be obtained from other government services and fees, and that requiring businesses to obtain revenue stamps along with paying fees in order to request government services is an added challenge for them. Therefore, the motion requested the government to nullify the law requiring the use of revenue stamps in order to provide more leeway for businesses.
The motion also stated the government received USD 1 million from revenue stamps in the past two years, including USD 252,000 in 2020. Meanwhile, the government is expected to spend USD 35,000 for printing the revenue stamps and receive USD 239,000 in 2021.
The government has printed 13 types of revenue stamps ranging from stamps worth less than USD 1 to stamps worth USD 647. As of November 2020, the government has 460,000 revenue stamps in stock, of which most of them are USD 0.65 stamps and USD 6.47 stamps.
Revenue stamps have been in use since 1970 after the public was required to use revenue stamps on various government-related documents.