The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) proceeded to the launching ceremony of the first payments of the Independence Allowance and the ‘Contribution Sociale Généralisée’ (CSG) Child Allowance, on Monday afternoon, at the Sir Harilall Vaghjee Hall in Port Louis.
The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy; the Director General (DG) of the MRA, Mr Sudhamo Lal; and other personalities were also present on the occasion.
In his keynote address, Prime Minister Jugnauth recalled that the MRA was created at the time that he was Finance Minister adding that the MRA has lived up to its name by reaching the level it is at today. “I would like to thank all Officers who have contributed to making this institution recognised not only nationally, but also regionally throughout Africa as well as internationally,” he stated.
Speaking of the CSG Child Allowance, Mr Jugnauth observed that the Government has come up with this initiative in order to assist the population, in particular parents, in these difficult times. This allowance will cost the Government some 1.2 billion rupees and in addition to this, Value Added Tax has also been abolished on baby products such as bottles, nappies and baby creams in order to bring some relief to parents, he underpinned.
For his part, the Finance Minister highlighted that as announced in the Budget Speech 2023-2024, the MRA has been entrusted with the responsibility to pay a monthly CSG Child Allowance of Rs 2,000 to children aged up to three years for the months of July 2023 to June 2024 while a one-off allowance of Rs 20,000 will be paid to eligible youths who have attained the age of 18 years on or after 01 January 2023.
Speaking of the financial achievements of the MRA, Mr Lal recalled that the MRA collected a total revenue of Rs 112.6 million for the financial year ending 30 June 2022, representing an unprecendented revenue growth of 26%. “I am pleased to announce that for this last financial year 2022/2023, a total of Rs 137 billion, that is, a revenue growth of 21.6% has been achieved,” he said.
