Filing and paying Maldives GST from overseas

Direct answer

Your taxable period is monthly if your supplies reach MVR 1,000,000 a month (MIRA expresses this as USD 64,850.84) and quarterly otherwise. The return and the payment are both due by the 28th day of the month following the end of the period. Overseas suppliers of inbound tourism products file through MIRAconnect and pay in US dollars from 1 October 2026.

Your taxable period: monthly or quarterly

Source: Act s.24(a); MIRA GST Guide §7.

Two points worth knowing:

• The test is on the value of supplies, computed under the rules for valuing inbound tourism products, that is, on your margin for resales and on the full fee for agency and booking services, not on gross booking value. See how to calculate the GST.
• A person who would otherwise be quarterly may elect a monthly period with the Commissioner General's approval (Act s.24(b)).

Taxable periods end on the last day of a Gregorian month (Act s.24(c)).

The deadline

The return must be filed, and the GST paid, on or before the 28th day of the month following the end of the taxable period (Act s.28(a)(1); Guide §7).

The Commissioner General may postpone the deadline on reasonable grounds (Act s.28(a)(2)).

Worked timing: MIRA's own example

A Norwegian tour operator expects average monthly supplies of USD 75,000. That is above USD 64,850.84, so its taxable period is one calendar month. Its October 2026 return must be filed, and the GST paid, on or before 28 November 2026 (Guide Example 7).

That is the first return most overseas operators will file.

Your likely first deadlines

Which form

The GST return for these supplies is form MIRA 211 (2026/R-82, new reg. art. 77(b-1); CST Advisory's translation of the Dhivehi text). The return must contain, in addition to the particulars required by Act s.29, the other information included in the MIRA 211 form (new reg. art. 78(e)).

As at 22 September 2026 the MIRA 211 form had not been published, and we have not seen it. We will update this page when it appears. Do not assume its contents.

Filing through MIRAconnect

When you register, MIRA creates a MIRAconnect account and sends you the login details (MIRA circular, 11 September 2026).

From 1 October 2026, suppliers of these services must file their GST return through MIRAconnect and pay GST and GST-related fines through MIRAconnect or MRTGS (2026/R-82, new reg. art. 78-2(h)).

That start date is earlier than for everyone else. For all other Maldives GST registrants, MIRAconnect filing and payment become mandatory from 1 January 2027, with the existing MVR 2,500,000 and MVR 20,000,000 thresholds applying only until 31 December 2026 (new reg. art. 78-2(d) to (g)).

The Commissioner General has a discretion to allow filing or payment by another means where a person has a reasonable excuse for finding MIRAconnect difficult (new reg. art. 78-2(i)).

Paying in US dollars

Tax on tourism-sector activities is payable in US dollars, or another foreign currency determined by the Commissioner General and accepted by the Maldives Monetary Authority (Act s.62(a)). MIRA's guide is explicit that suppliers of inbound tourism products must prepare returns and make payments in USD (Guide §9).

Converting other currencies. Amounts in currencies other than USD are converted using a rate within ±2% of the rate published by the Maldives Monetary Authority applicable at the time of supply. You must use your chosen rate source consistently. If the MMA published no rate for a given date, use the last rate published before that date (Guide §9).

For an operator selling in euros or sterling, this needs a documented policy before the first return, not after it.

Dates and times

Maldivian time governs dates and times for GST purposes. There is a concession: for these services you may use the clock you use in your own accounting to determine date and time, except for working out the day your return is due and the day your payment is due, which run on Maldivian time (2026/R-82, new reg. art. 98-1; CST Advisory's translation).

Records you must keep

Your records must let MIRA verify the time of supply, the value of the supply, and the GST accounted for on each supply (Guide §8).

MIRA's specific list:

• agreements entered into with tourist establishments in the Maldives
• agreements entered into with other resellers of inbound tourism products
• booking confirmations, reservation records, travel itineraries and ticketing records
• records that can identify the specific inbound tourism product supplied
• documentation on refunds, cancellations, amendments and adjustments
• where a package contains elements that are not inbound tourism products, documentation substantiating that fact

The Regulation adds the same categories at art. 92(a)(7-1) to (7-7), together with documents showing consideration received and receivable, and amounts paid or payable to suppliers (2026/R-82, cl. 24).

Two helpful concessions for overseas businesses:

• You may keep records in a language of your choice. If that is not Dhivehi or English, you must give MIRA an official translation into Dhivehi or English on request (new reg. art. 95(e) and (f); Guide §8).
• You may keep records at a place outside the Maldives that you ordinarily use for business, or where you ordinarily keep records (new reg. art. 97(b)).

Records are kept for 5 years from the end of the taxable period to which they relate (GST Regulation art. 95(a)).

Invoicing

Your tax invoice, receipt, credit note or debit note need not state the GST charged on the value of the inbound tourism product, or the GST-exclusive value of that product (2026/R-82, new reg. art. 64-1).

This matters because an overseas operator often cannot split Maldives GST out of a bundled international booking. You are not required to.

You are also not required to display GST-inclusive prices (new reg. art. 109(f)).

We can act as your Maldives filing agent. CST Advisory prepares and files Maldives GST returns for overseas travel businesses, manages the MIRAconnect submission and the USD payment, and keeps the records MIRA expects.

Talk to us about ongoing compliance →