IRD tightens grip on Liquor License holders

Liquor license holders must clear all pending taxes to renew their licenses for next year and the Tax Clearance Certificate will be sent directly to the Excise Department unlike in the past when license holders submitted it by themselves, a senior official of the Inland Revenue Department said.

Accordingly, license holders are required to pay Income Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), and Social Security Contribution Levy based on the returns they made and if they have registered for any other taxes, those payments also should be cleared to secure the  certificate. 

“The Excise Department introduced a new system this time where the Inland Revenue Department will send the Tax Clearance Certificates directly to the department after license holders cleared their pending tax payments and cleared from compliance of relevant tax payments,” Commissioner General (Acting) D.U.A. Jayawardhana said.

To do this, the Acting Commissioner General stressed that the department requires consent from the license holders to send their tax clearance certificate to the Excise Department directly.