Minister challenges MRA to sustain tax revenue gains for Malawi’s business future

Post was last updated: August 26, 2026

Key Business Points

  • Malawi’s tax authority MRA launched a 2026-31 Corporate Strategic Plan aimed at widening the tax base, improving compliance, and embracing digital transformation to reduce reliance on foreign aid and loans.
  • Government is targeting a tax-to-GDP ratio increase from about 16.8% towards 20%, meaning businesses and high net worth individuals should expect closer scrutiny on tax compliance, but also a more predictable and digital system that lowers costs for compliant firms.
  • MRA surpassed revenue targets with about K4.4 trillion collected against K4.32 trillion planned in the last strategic cycle, and has already posted a K20 billion surplus in the current fiscal year, signalling stronger domestic resource mobilisation that could fund infrastructure, health and education.

The Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation, Joseph Mwanamvekha, has challenged the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) to keep up its revenue performance and deepen domestic resource mobilisation at a time when public debt pressures, tax evasion and illicit financial flows continue to weigh on the national budget.

Speaking in Blantyre during the launch of MRA’s 2026-31 Corporate Strategic Plan, Mwanamvekha said stronger domestic revenue mobilisation was critical to reducing Malawi’s dependence on external financing and freeing up resources for development. He urged the tax collector to build on recent gains by strengthening compliance, widening the tax base and improving efficiency, without leaning solely on tax hikes.

Government will treat the five-year plan as an institutional cornerstone for boosting domestic taxes and supporting the National Economic Recovery Plan and Malawi 2063, the long-term vision aimed at transforming Malawi into a lower middle-income economy by 2030 and an upper middle-income economy by 2063. "Increased domestic revenue means more classrooms, better-equipped hospitals, safer roads and more opportunities for our youth," the minister said.

UNDP resident representative Fenella Frost noted that the plan has been launched at a pivotal time, with tighter global financing conditions and shrinking development assistance forcing countries like Malawi to raise more domestic resources. "Strengthening domestic resource mobilisation is not an option, it is a necessity," she said, urging authorities to widen the tax base instead of piling more burdens on households and businesses already stretched thin.

Frost added that raising the tax-to-GDP ratio from about 16.8% towards 20% was essential to turn Malawi’s development ambitions into real delivery while keeping public finances sustainable. She also pushed for stronger engagement with the private sector and a digital, predictable tax system that helps small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs formalise, grow and create jobs, a point that should reassure local SMEs worried about compliance costs.

MRA board chairperson MacFussy Kawawa said the authority maintained an average revenue performance rate of about 99% between 2020 and 2026, including collecting roughly K4.4 trillion against a K4.32 trillion target in the final year. The new plan will focus on revenue sustainability, digital transformation, data and analytics, risk-based compliance, an expanded tax base and better taxpayer services, with success depending on disciplined execution.

The minister’s call comes as MRA faces a K6.2 trillion domestic revenue collection target for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027. So far, K1.39 trillion has been collected in the first quarter against a target of K1.37 trillion, representing a K20 billion surplus.

For Malawi’s business community, the message is clear: the era of relying on donors is closing, and domestic taxpayers, including entrepreneurs, SMEs and large firms, will play a bigger role in funding national development. The MRA’s shift towards digital tax systems, simplified compliance and a wider tax net is expected to lower the cost of doing business for compliant taxpayers while bringing more players into the formal economy. Businesses that invest early in proper record-keeping, digital invoicing and tax compliance stand to benefit from smoother audits, fewer penalties and better access to government incentives. As boma la ndalama* shifts, the private sector that embraces transparency and innovation will be best positioned to grow alongside Malawi’s long-term development ambitions.

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Vanessa Banda
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