The Malawi Revenue Authority is urging all Value Added Tax (VAT) operators under phase one to acquire Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) before the set deadline of 30th June.

MRA introduced the mandatory use of EFDs for VAT operators from March 6, 2014 and those in the first phase are those currently issuing handwritten cash sales and or invoices and till receipts from ordinary cash registers that are not connected to a computer or Point of Sale (POS).

According to a press release from the revenue collecting body endorsed by its Commissioner General John Biziwick and available to Malawi News Agency (Mana) those VAT operators that fall in the first phase will have a cost recovery scheme if they procure, install and use EFDs before the deadline being 30th June.

“They will claim 100 percent of the cost as input VAT in the following month’s VAT return. There will be no cost recovery for those that buy after 30th June 2014,” reads the statement in part.

It further states that from 1st July it will be mandatory for those falling under phase 1 to use Electronic Tax Registers (ETRs).

“From this date those falling under phase 1 will be required to issue fiscal receipts as required by the law as stated under the MRA VAT Act passed by parliament in 2011,” says the report.

The statement then clarifies to all VAT operators that there are only 4 EFD distributors in the country, Business Machines Limited, Canotech Limited, Gestetner Limited and Xerographics Limited.

EFDs are advanced versions of electronic cash registers that record all sales transactions and provide evidence of such transactions in a technically easy way. The implementation of EFDs is in 2 phases depending on the method of sales accounting system used by the VAT operator.