The Maldives taxes resident individuals and companies on worldwide income under a residence-based system, with resident companies and non-resident companies with a Maldives permanent establishment both subject to income tax at 15% (25% for banks) on business profits under the Income Tax Act (Law Number 25/2019, in force since January 1, 2020, administered by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, MIRA); the first MVR 500,000 of taxable profit is exempt. Note: this replaced the earlier Business Profit Tax Act, which was repealed with the Income Tax Act's commencement - the same 15%/MVR 500,000 structure carried forward, but under the current Act's name.
The tax year generally follows the calendar year; businesses must file annual tax returns and make quarterly interim payments based on projected annual profits.
15% income tax on taxable business profit exceeding MVR 500,000, under the Income Tax Act (the first MVR 500,000 of taxable profit is exempt).
0% - no personal income tax.
8% standard GST for non-tourism sector goods and services; 17% for tourism-sector goods and services (resorts, hotels) effective from July 1, 2026.
Not applicable in the ordinary sense for individual taxation. Resident companies and non-resident companies with a permanent establishment in the Maldives are both subject to the 15% income tax under the Income Tax Act. Tax residency does still matter for a specific purpose, however: see the CFC rules immediately below, which apply based on Maldives residency of individual or corporate owners regardless of the absence of a general personal income tax.
A non-resident company with a permanent establishment in the Maldives is subject to the 15% income tax on the income attributable to that establishment, the same rate that applies to resident companies; a non-resident company without a Maldives permanent establishment is instead subject to withholding tax on Maldives-source payments, with treaty-reduced rates available under the Maldives' limited network of double tax agreements (for example, royalties at 7% instead of the standard 10% under the UAE treaty).
The Maldives operates a worldwide tax system with genuine, detailed Controlled Foreign Company provisions. A foreign entity (company, partnership, trust, or other entity) that is not itself a Maldives resident is treated as a CFC if it is controlled by five or fewer Maldives residents. Any Maldives resident owning 10% or more of that foreign entity's share capital must include their proportionate share of the foreign entity's taxable revenue in their own taxable income, calculated under a specified formula, and must submit "Schedule 5 - Reporting of Share of Taxable Income from Controlled Foreign Entities" for each qualifying holding. This is a genuinely specific, well-documented CFC mechanism - not a generic "worldwide taxation" claim.
Interest paid to a non-approved financial institution is capped at an annual rate of 6% (per the Income Tax Act and Regulation); after that cap, total deductible interest (excluding interest to a bank or non-bank financial institution licensed by the Maldives Monetary Authority) is further limited to 30% of tax-EBITDA, with disallowed interest carried forward for 10 years.
The Maldives classifies entities under its own domestic tax law rather than offering an elective check-the-box system, and no ATAD2-style anti-hybrid mismatch regime addressing double-deduction or deduction-without-inclusion outcomes has been identified; as described elsewhere on this page, the Maldives' genuine and detailed CFC regime (attributing a foreign entity's taxable revenue to Maldives residents owning 10% or more of a foreign entity controlled by five or fewer Maldives residents) functions as the jurisdiction's primary cross-border anti-avoidance mechanism instead of a separate anti-hybrid regime.
No domestic FBAR-equivalent regime requires Maldives residents to separately disclose foreign financial accounts. The Maldives is a CRS participating jurisdiction and exchanges financial account information with partner tax authorities. US persons remain independently subject to FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) and potentially Form 8938 regardless of the Maldives' own rules.
Dividends received by residents from Maldivian (resident) companies are tax-exempt, functioning as a domestic participation exemption; a distinct exemption for dividends received from foreign subsidiaries is not confirmed in available primary sources, and CFC-attributed foreign income (described elsewhere on this page) would in any event already be included directly in a Maldives resident's taxable income rather than benefiting from a dividend exemption.
Where no tax treaty applies, the Maldives provides a unilateral tax credit for residents who have paid tax abroad on income also taxable in the Maldives; where a treaty does apply (comprehensive agreements are in force with the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh, with additional treaties signed with Malaysia and Hong Kong awaiting entry into force as of the most recent verification), the treaty's specific relief and tie-breaker provisions control instead.
The Maldives does not have an extensive treaty network. Where no treaty applies, the Maldives provides a unilateral tax credit for residents who have paid tax abroad on income also taxable in the Maldives.