President ratifies Heritage Act and amendment to Tax Administration Act

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified the Heritage Act and the second amendment to the Tax Administration Act.

Upon ratification, both acts have been publicized in the government gazette.

Parliament had in August passed the Heritage Act, proposed by Baarah MP Ahmed Abdulla, with several amendments while the amendment to the Tax Administration Act was passed in September.

Maldives Cultural Heritage Bill was drafted to assemble a Maldivian heritage registry, which is to include heritage sites, history and traditional artifacts of local islands. The implementation of the bill will ensure that preserving and protecting heritage in the country, is made compulsory, further ensuring that rules will be set to maintain the country’s heritage.

Some of sites included under the act are historic sites and archaeological findings, crafted items, paintings, archives, books and writing as well as other items that have historic value to it.

The implementation of this bill will prove to be immensely beneficial to the country’s heritage. To determine the historic value of said items, the bill states that it needs to be dates, at least 100 years or have “cultural value”. Buildings as stated under the bill need to have been constructed before 1950.

A penalty will also be set for damaging items or vandalizing historic buildings. Exporting items with historic value is also to be banned under the bill.

Introducing the legislation was included in President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s first 100-day action plan.

The amendment to the Tax Administration Act proposes to amend the composition of the governing board members at the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). It stipulates that the governing board consists of seven members, including five appointed by the president, one appointed by the Finance Minister, and the Commissioner General of Taxation.