Sri Lanka’s importers urge further simplification of tax system
View(s):Sri Lanka’s importers have urged the government to further simplify the tax system without imposing taxes in an ad-hoc manner and facilitate a free and fair trading environment for both goods and services enabling them to compete in the markets, contributing to the national economic growth.
Tariff structures in Sri Lanka should be in line with regional structures as high tariffs create grey market activities by under-valuation, entry of poor quality goods and finally loss of government revenue through such activities.
These suggestions were made by the newly elected Chairman, of the Import Section, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Dinesh De Silva when he addressed its 79th Annual General Meeting in Colombo recently. He noted that there are still unresolved issues to be taken up with the Director General of Merchant Shipping to have a structured mechanism to handle trade disputes which are paramount important specially for importers and exporters.
Delivering the keynote address, Secretray to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Anura Siriwardena said ‘the expenditure on imports of Sri Lanka shows a declining trend’.
The intermediate goods are the category that is largely being imported to Sri Lanka, with a contribution of 59 per cent, while investment goods and consumer goods follow with a share of 23 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. This reflects a positive shift in the manufacturing industry, contributing to a more stable development within the country, he revealed.
The country from which Sri Lanka sources the highest amount of imports is India, which contributes to 17.6 per cent of imports while China is close behind with a share of 16.4 per cent. Singapore, UAE, Oman, Japan and Malaysia are the next largest sources of imports of Sri Lanka at present, he added.
The government has carried out many activities to facilitate and promote trade and investment in Sri Lanka, especially with the view to record a trade surplus by 2020 by promoting production over consumption, which at present is the other way round, mirrored by the country’s import bill, which at present, is double the amount of its export earnings, he said.
Outgoing Chairman, Kevin Edwards disclosed that the much awaited, automation of the Sri Lanka Customs Import and Export documentation process is gradually falling into place.
With the establishment of the 24 x 7 Centralised Cargo Processing Facilities for export cargo, exporters are confident that all export cargo will be fast-tracked.
The pilot project of grading importers is now underway and importers will be able to reap the benefits offered by the Sri Lanka Customs, he added.