Maldives withholding tax calculator
Employee withholding tax is charged on a progressive scale: each band takes its rate only from the slice of income that falls inside it. Nothing is due below MVR 60,000 a month, and crossing a threshold never costs more in tax than the raise that crossed it.
The base matters as much as the rate. HumanR taxes remuneration after the employee's pension contribution, which is the step most published calculators skip — so this one does it too, and shows you the deduction.
Everything else taxable this month — service charge, overtime, fixed allowances. Leave out any component your company treats as non-taxable.
Withholding tax this month
MVR 1,105.50
1.38% of the taxable base — the next rufiyaa is taxed at 5.5%.
Charged band by band
An estimate on the figures you typed, not tax advice. Which of your allowances are taxable is a decision your company makes component by component, and this page cannot see that setup. Check anything material against MIRA’s own guidance.
The scale, effective 1 April 2020
| Monthly remuneration (MVR) | Rate |
|---|---|
| 0 – 60,000 | 0% |
| 60,000 – 100,000 | 5.5% |
| 100,000 – 150,000 | 8% |
| 150,000 – 200,000 | 12% |
| Over 200,000 | 15% |
Worked through: a taxable base of 150,000
Only two bands are reached, and neither charges the whole salary.
- 60,000 in the 0% band0
- 40,000 in the 5.5% band2,200
- 50,000 in the 8% band4,000
- Withheld6,200
That is 4.13% of the base, not 8% — the difference between a marginal scale and a flat one.
How the base is built
The base is taxable remuneration less the employee pension. The product totals the basic and every taxable earning across all of an employee's packages, subtracts the 7% pension it just deducted, and applies the scale to what is left.
Not every allowance is taxable. Each pay component carries a taxable flag, so a company that treats a particular allowance as non-taxable sees it excluded from the base — this calculator cannot know your component setup.
A dollar package is taxed in rufiyaa and paid back in dollars. The base is restated into MVR at the payroll's own conversion rate, the scale is applied, and the tax is converted back so the payslip line stays in one currency.
Withholding is off until it is deliberately switched on, per run. It is a feature flag plus a per-run toggle, and HR can still edit or remove the line on a draft before finalizing.
This calculator runs the same arithmetic as PayrollMath.WithholdingTax inside HumanR, re-checked against the product’s own test cases on every build. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.
Questions
At what salary does withholding tax start in the Maldives?
Above MVR 60,000 a month of taxable remuneration. At exactly 60,000 the tax is still zero — the first band is charged at 0%, and each band above it applies only to the slice of income inside it.
Is the whole salary taxed at the top rate once you cross a threshold?
No. The scale is marginal, so crossing a threshold only changes the rate on the income above it. Earning one rufiyaa more never costs more than one rufiyaa in tax — the calculator shows the charge band by band so you can see it.
Is pension deducted before tax?
Yes, and it makes a material difference. HumanR totals taxable remuneration, subtracts the employee's 7% pension contribution, and applies the scale to what is left. A calculator that taxes the gross overstates the answer for anyone in the scheme.
How is an employee paid in US dollars taxed?
The taxable base is restated into rufiyaa at the payroll's own conversion rate, the scale is applied there, and the tax is converted back into the package's currency so the payslip line stays in one currency.
Does HumanR withhold tax automatically?
Only when you switch it on. It is a feature flag plus a per-run toggle, and even then HR reviews the draft before finalizing — the withholding line can be edited or removed on any employee before the run is closed.
Where do the rates come from?
The MIRA employee-withholding scale effective 1 April 2020. HumanR stores tax bands with effective-from dates rather than as fixed numbers, so a rate change is a new set of bands and back-dated payslips still regenerate on the scale that was in force at the time.
Other calculators
Pension
MRPS contributions on a pensionable wage — the employee's 7%, the employer's matching 7%, and what gets remitted.
Service charge
Split a month's pool across staff after the 1% admin retention, equally or by days worked, with the shares summing exactly.
Gratuity
What a contractual end-of-service benefit comes to — and why the statutory answer in the Maldives is zero.
Net salary
Gross to take-home in the order a real payroll runs it — including why unpaid days do not reduce your pension or your tax.
Annual leave
What a trip actually costs your balance once Fridays and public holidays come out — counting an Eid on a Friday once, not twice.
Public holidays
The dates for the rest of 2026 and 2027, flagged for which ones can still move — and downloadable as a plain CSV.
Run withholding across a payroll, not one salary
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