News
Vehicle import duties dominate Govt’s tax drive
View(s):The Government has set a target of Rs. 886 billion revenue from taxes with the biggest contribution expected from vehicle import duties amounting to Rs. 280 billion. The Government is also expecting Rs. 125 billion via import tax followed by Rs. 95 billion from port and airport development levy (PAL), Rs. 85 billion from excise duties, Rs. 75 billion from VAT, Rs. 65 billion from special commodity levy (SCL) and Rs. 54 billion from import Cess levy.
The Finance Ministry has prepared letters, circulars, guidelines, revenue bills, and amendments to the Finance Act and Inland Revenue Act to implement 2016 budget proposals soon, Treasury Secretary R.H.S. Samaratunge told the Sunday Times.
Necessary amendment bills relating to the implementation of VAT and NBT revisions are being prepared although the enactment of revenue bills and the issuing of guidelines and circulars to relevant ministries and institutions had been delayed due to unavoidable reasons, he added.
VAT has been increased to 15 percent from 8-12.5 percent from May 2 but water, electricity and medicinal drugs are exempted from the increase. The NBT will remain at 2 percent, he said adding: “In Sri Lanka it is difficult to implement tax increases but easy to implement tax cuts.”