The Parliament has passed the controversial Tax Act Amendment Bill.
The bill was passed with votes from 82 of the 55 MPs present. 26 MPs voted against the bill that would see a tax hike implemented next January.
The government has been pushing the Tax Act Amendment Bill that would see a hike in taxes and the government has said that this was necessary to maintain the economic outlook of the country.
The Bill was submitted to the Parliament by the MP for Ihavandhoo Constituency Mohamed Shifau. It proposes increasing the Goods and Services Tax GST from 6 percent to 8 percent and hiking the Tourism Tax from 12 percent to 16 percent.
Today's vote is the 3rd time the vote was put on the Parliamentary Agenda but the previous two times the sessions were cut short before the vote.
This prompted MPs from MDP to meet with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih yesterday and share their concerns, especially about the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed.
