The Malawi Judiciary says it is banking on unique skills and expertise of Tribunal Members to quickly hear and resolve a backlog of revenue cases in the country. 

Speaking when he officially opened a 3-day induction workshop for the nine Revenue Appeals Tribunal Members, the Deputy Chief Justice Honourable Justice Lovemore Chikopa said revenue cases require a lot skills and government was delighted to have noted the vast sets of skills and expertise in the composition of the Tribunal Members and hoped that would help quickly resolve cases.

 “Resolving tax issues require a lot of skills and government is honoured that you accepted this challenge. I trust that your unique expertise will help in clearing with greater speed a backlog of revenue cases sitting in the judiciary together with the new cases that the Tribunal is receiving,” Justice Chikopa said. 

Speaking on behalf of the Secretary to Treasury in the Ministry of Finance, Director of Revenue Policy Directorate Dr Ligomeka said they are pleased that the Members have finally been oriented for them to start discharging their mandate. 

Dr Ligomeka said government recognises that Revenue Appeals Tribunal will require substantial resources to faithfully carry out their job.

 “Government is committed to providing funds to support operations of the Tribunal so that there are no hindrances to their work,” the Director of Revenue Policy Directorate said.  

Chairperson of the Revenue Appeals Tribunal His Honour Joster Chisale said the induction workshop was aimed to ensuring that Tribunal Members familiarise themselves with the tax laws, appreciate their roles and functions and also to encourage them to always abide by the law and relevant facts when resolving revenue cases. 

So far government has appointed nine Tribunal Members from a minimum provision of twelve as provided for by the Revenue Appeals Tribunal Act. 

Revenue Appeals Tribunal was established through the Revenue Appeals Tribunal Act of 2021 to hear and determine revenues cases when a taxpayer is aggrieved by the objection decision made by the Commissioner General of Malawi Revenue Authority.