NBT tax to be removed under Premadasa's rule - Eran

State Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne today (Nov 11) said that National Building Tax (NBT) would be removed during presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa’s term in office.

“We will combine NBT and Value Added Taxes (VAT). This would see the removal of NBT’s,” the state minister told a news conference in Colombo.

He said that New Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential candidate Premadasa would implement a “simple” and “fair” tax policy.

“We hope to increase direct taxes and reduce indirect taxes. Otherwise, it would be unfair for the poor,” Wickramaratne explained.

A key feature in next year’s budget, if Premadasa is voted into power, would be the exemption of 1500 goods from Para Tariffs imposed on imported goods, in addition to the regular tax.

“Within the next five years, we hope to completely remove Para Tariffs,” the state finance minister noted.

He added that the VAT imposed on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises would be levied only for businesses which generate monthly revenue of more than Rs 4 million. At present, the tax is being imposed for earnings above Rs 1.5 million.

In addition, the NDF candidate’s tax policy would see Non-Resident Foreign Currency accounts and Children’s Savings Accounts being exempted from income taxes.

Wickramaratne also drew emphasis that the IT sector would be given the utmost priority under their rule.

“We hope to triple the revenue generated through the IT sector in the next five years,” he said while explaining that the government is expected to generate USD 1200 million in revenue this year.

Premadasa’s budget will also see the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax imposed on individuals who earn more than Rs 150,000 a month.

The state finance minister explained that VAT would be imposed on multi-storeyed houses which are only worth more than Rs 25 million.

He added that the moratorium provided to tourism-related businesses to give more time to pay off loans would be re-introduced under the NDF candidate’s rule.

The moratorium had initially been introduced to assist the tourist industry which had remained tanked in the aftermath of this year’s Easter Sunday attacks.

Wickramaratne noted that a Rs 10 billion worth Innovation Fund would be set-up to assist innovators to commercialise their product and introduce it to the market.