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Finance Ministry rejects EC’s tax exemption call
View(s):A request from the Election Commission seeking an exemption from the deduction of the Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) from the allowances and other payments made to public sector officials who are recruited for election duty has been rejected by the Ministry of Finance.
Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake had written to the Finance Ministry Secretary on August 13 seeking the tax exemption.
A senior Treasury official said they could not grant any such exemptions as it would be against the law.
“If we selectively grant tax exemptions, it will be unfair and unacceptable to others paying taxes,” the official said.
In the letter sent to the Finance Ministry, Mr. Ratnayake said that once the APIT was deducted from the allowances/payments made to officers on election duty, their take-home amount would be low, and it would be difficult to recruit competent officers for duty.
The commissioner general said the services of a large number of public officials were required for the presidential election as well as the other upcoming elections, and, therefore, the EC sought the cooperation of the Finance Ministry in granting the tax exemptions.
The EC itself has stopped many payments due to public officials in the lead-up to the election, a Finance Ministry official said.
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