Malawi VAT / GST

Name: OpenAccountants MCP Server
Author: OpenAccountants

Source-cited draft: vat / gst for Malawi (tax year 2025) — rates, thresholds and rules with primary-source citations. Unverified; pending local-accountant review.

Applicable period 2025Source-cited draft· Last updated Jun 25, 2026

Source-cited draft.Written from sources but not reviewed by a licensed practitioner, so it may be incomplete or wrong. General reference only; don't file or take a position on it without professional review.

Use Malawi VAT / GST in your AI agent

Add OpenAccountants so your AI can retrieve this Guide during a conversation. Any output remains a draft unless a qualified professional separately reviews your specific facts.

View source on GitHub Add to your AI

Use this with your AI

Use OpenAccountants for VAT / GST in Malawi.

Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI that has OpenAccountants added. Add it to your AI first if you haven't.

Key figures — Malawi, 2025

Every figure is drawn from this Tax Guide and cited to its source.

Standard VAT rate (2025)

16.5Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02)View source ↗

Standard VAT rate from 31 Dec 2025

17.5Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2025View source ↗

Zero-rated supplies

0Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules

Exempt supplies

Specified supplies are exempt (no VAT, no input credit) — e.g. certain financial, health and education services ((approx — confirm current exempt schedule))Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules

Mandatory registration threshold

25,000,000Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11View source ↗

Voluntary registration

Permitted where taxable supplies are below MK 25,000,000 per annumValue Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11View source ↗

Registration deadline once liable

Apply at MRA Domestic Taxes within 30 days of becoming liableValue Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02)View source ↗

VAT return filing frequency

Monthly — return and payment due by the 25th of the month following the tax period ((approx — confirm the exact due day))Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02)

Reverse charge on imported services

Recipients of imported services account for VAT under the reverse-charge mechanism ((approx — confirm scope, incl. digital/non-resident supplier rules))Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02)

Rendered from the canonical facts model. General reference only — confirm with a qualified professional before acting.

The full Guide

Value Added Tax (VAT)

Malawi operates a Value Added Tax under the Value Added Tax Act, administered by the MRA. The standard rate was 16.5% for 2025, raised to 17.5% by the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2025 with effect from 31 December 2025.

Standard VAT rate (2025) — 16.5 percent (Raised to 17.5% from 31 Dec 2025) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))
Standard VAT rate from 31 Dec 2025 — 17.5 percent (Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2025)
Zero-rated supplies — 0 percent (exports and specified goods/services (e.g. certain basic foodstuffs and medicines) ((approx — confirm current zero-rated schedule items))) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules)
Exempt supplies — Specified supplies are exempt (no VAT, no input credit) — e.g. certain financial, health and education services ((approx — confirm current exempt schedule)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules)
Mandatory registration threshold — 25,000,000 MWK/year (of taxable supplies per annum) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11)
Voluntary registration — Permitted where taxable supplies are below MK 25,000,000 per annum (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11)
Registration deadline once liable — Apply at MRA Domestic Taxes within 30 days of becoming liable (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))
VAT return filing frequency — Monthly — return and payment due by the 25th of the month following the tax period ((approx — confirm the exact due day)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))
Reverse charge on imported services — Recipients of imported services account for VAT under the reverse-charge mechanism ((approx — confirm scope, incl. digital/non-resident supplier rules)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))

Pasting this into your AI section by section is slow and easy to get wrong. Add to your AI and it loads the whole Guide automatically — with dependency resolution and conservative defaults, every figure cited to its source.

All Malawi Guides

More Malawi Tax Guides

Other Malawi computations in the OpenAccountants Tax Library.

Malawi Tax Overview Malawi Personal Income Tax Malawi Corporate Income Tax Malawi Company Formation & Entity Choice Malawi Payroll & Social Contributions

See all Malawi Guides →

Value Added Tax (VAT)

Standard VAT rate (2025) — 16.5 percent (Raised to 17.5% from 31 Dec 2025) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))

Standard VAT rate from 31 Dec 2025 — 17.5 percent (Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2025)

Zero-rated supplies — 0 percent (exports and specified goods/services (e.g. certain basic foodstuffs and medicines) ((approx — confirm current zero-rated schedule items))) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules)

Exempt supplies — Specified supplies are exempt (no VAT, no input credit) — e.g. certain financial, health and education services ((approx — confirm current exempt schedule)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Schedules)

Mandatory registration threshold — 25,000,000 MWK/year (of taxable supplies per annum) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11)

Voluntary registration — Permitted where taxable supplies are below MK 25,000,000 per annum (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02), Section 11)

Registration deadline once liable — Apply at MRA Domestic Taxes within 30 days of becoming liable (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))

VAT return filing frequency — Monthly — return and payment due by the 25th of the month following the tax period ((approx — confirm the exact due day)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))

Reverse charge on imported services — Recipients of imported services account for VAT under the reverse-charge mechanism ((approx — confirm scope, incl. digital/non-resident supplier rules)) (Value Added Tax Act (Cap 42:02))