Government makes APIT compulsory for foreign workers

The government has made the payment of Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) compulsory for all foreign workers in Sri Lanka who earn more than Rs 3 million within a year with retrospective effect of 01.04.2020, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) announced on Thursday.

30,558 foreigners are working in Sri Lanka with work visas which consists of both the new issuance of work visas as well as extensions of existing visas in 2018, Department of Immigration and Emigration statistics revealed.
The highest number of 15,500 workers are from India (8,500) and China (7,000) which is around 50 per cent of the total work visas issued in 2018.
IRD said that as per a Notice PN/APIT/2020-01 dated 20.04.2020 of the Inland the APIT replaced the PAYE tax on optional basis.
The employers have been requested to remit the APIT by deducting it from the remuneration of respective employees, if such employees are resident in terms of the provisions of the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017, with the consent of respective employees.
According to the new notice published by the IRD, deduction of APIT is compulsory with effect from 01.04.2020 on the remuneration payments to all non-resident employees and all resident but non-citizen employees regardless of their consent.
Employers can apply the Tax Table 05 of the APIT tables for the months of April – July 2020 of the Year of Assessment 2020/2021, to deduct the APIT from the remuneration payments of the resident but non-citizen employees (who have not given their consent to deduct APIT prior to this notice) and such computed APIT must be paid on or before August 15, 2020.
Further, if any such employees who have not made the payment of income tax due for gains and profits from employment during the period from 01.01.2020 to 31.03.2020 can pay such income tax payment as informed by the IRD Notice PN/PAYE/2020-01 dated 15.04.2020 (Deduction of Tax on Cumulative Income from Employment for the Period 01.01.2020 – 31.03.2020) through the employer, IRD informed. (BS)