MRA re-launches ‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ Campaign

The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has announced the resumption of the Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFD) campaign branded ‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’.

Briefing members of the press at Msonkho House in Blantyre on Tuesday, MRA Head of Corporate Affairs Steven Kapoloma said the campaign will run for a period of 3 months from 1st March to 31st May, 2021.

“This week, we are conducting awareness for ‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ to enable the public to effectively report and claim their reward. Buyers will begin getting the rewards from Monday, 8th March in Blantyre and Limbe only. Later on, from 15th March it will spread to Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu,” Kapoloma said.

Taking his turn, MRA EFD Manager Bentry Khonje said the campaign’s focus is to have all members of the public rewarded for enforcing issuance of correct fiscal receipts.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to demand correct receipts because non-issuance of such leads to losses of Value Added tax (VAT). We are glad that there is wide willingness from the public to ensure that right amounts of VAT are collected for public service use,” Khonje said.

‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ will reward a buyer with K40,000 for reporting non-issuance of EFD receipts. The reward will be given after verification of the offence and charging of a minimum penalty of K500,000 by EFD inspectors.

The main objective of the campaign is to encourage VAT registered traders to issue EFD receipts all the time. Through the campaign, MRA seeks to raise awareness among buyers on the importance of demanding an EFD receipt and remind VAT registered businesses of their obligations to issue EFD receipts for every sale.

With the ‘Kuiphula ndi Lisiti Langa’ campaign, buyers will be rewarded for reporting EFD offences committed by VAT registered traders. The offences include the following:

Fiscal receipt is issued but not reflecting the correct amount paid
Receipt issued but not fiscal receipt
No receipt issued at all to the buyer

VAT registered traders are reminded that under Section 46 of the VAT Act, failure to issue an EFD receipt attracts a penalty of K500,000.

MRA is assuring the public that Covid-19 measures will strictly be observed during the campaign, further all those reporting offenses must always wear face masks. Buyers in Blantyre will be contacting MRA directly by calling on the following designated phone numbers.
0885 514 939
0885 514 934
Buyers will also be handled as walk-ins in the following designated zones:

Limbe Post Office
Blantyre Post Office

Once reported, MRA officials will together with the buyer go to verify the malpractice in the concerned shop or business and issue appropriate penalty to the VAT registered trader. Upon charging of the penalty, the buyer will be given an instant reward of K50,000. This amount is subject to 20% Withholding tax, therefore the net cash awarded will be K40,000.

The Authority is further encouraging buyers to check their EFD receipts and ensure that correct details of a transaction are recorded. Those who are issued with receipts that do not have correct information should also report and will be rewarded as well.

There is no limit to the number of reports that one can make. Therefore, MRA is encouraging members of the public to promptly report any VAT malpractice to the numbers provided and earn instant cash rewards.