Mangala explains withholding tax exemptions following amendments to Inland Revenue Act

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera has taken to his official Twitter account regarding Cabinet approval to the tax concessions made by several amendments to the Inland Revenue Act 24 of 2017.

Accordingly, Minister Samaraweera said the following categories would be exempt of withholding taxes :

• Interest obtained from childrens savings accounts
• Loans granted by the government to any non-resident of Sri Lanka
• Royalty payment not exceeding Rs 50,000 per month subject to a maximum of Rs 500,000 per year
• Interest income upto Rs 50,000 per month and Rs 500,000 per year from any savings, fixed, and joint deposits
• Earnings from government securities (includes interest, discount, capital gain earned by non-residents of sovereign bonds issued by or on behalf of the government)

In addition, he said that the withholding taxes have been revised for the following categories :

• Rent - reduced from 10 percent to five percent
• Small and medium scale enterprises - maximum of 14 percent of the income (This will be in effect from April 1)
• Interest income of senior citizens - amount of exemption increased from Rs 150,000 to Rs 300,000