Paint makers worry over taxes

Desperation is setting in for paint manufacturers in Sri Lanka after their appeals to the President, ministers and other government officials over a manufacturing tax on paints didn’t bring any results.

Now the Paint Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka is holding a news conference on Tuesday to voice their concern through the media and in doing so urge President Mahinda Rajapaksa to withdraw this tax. The association is also urging that a cess be imposed on imported paints. “Only paints’ in the construction industry was singled in the last budget in imposing this manufacturing tax,” said an association spokesman.