Casino owner Perera fed up with taxes
View(s):Paying some 65 per cent in cumulative taxes for his casinos doesn’t seem to go down well anymore with Dhammika Perera, considered one of Sri Lanka’s biggest businessmen.
He will operate only two casinos out of the three casinos in the future, having decided to close down one of them in a restructuring exercise, sources close to the business tycoon said. “He has plans to continue with the casino situated at D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha in Colombo and he hasn’t decided which other one he will operate,” a source told the Business Times. He said that Mr. Perera pays more than 65 per cent in taxes for each casino which are considered as money spinners.
He added that Mr. Perera’s casinos staff some 2,000 employees and that it’s difficult to close two casinos at once. The decision to quit operations in one casino came about with the new government’s interim budget deciding to slap a special tax of Rs. 1 billion from casino owners for each of their gaming centres.
Also following suit is businessman Ravi Wijeratne who is considering closing one of the two casinos owned by him, the sources said.