The CThe Cabinet has approved five amendments to the Tax Acts to increase government revenue for economic stability.
The proposal made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to ammend the following tax acts; Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017, Value Added Tax Act No. 14 of 2002, Telecommunication Tax Act No. 21 of 2011, Betting and Gaming Tax Act No. 40 of 1988, Financial Management (Liability) Act No. 3 of 2003 was approved by the cabinet.
The statement issued by the Cabinet Office in this regard is as follows.
Government revenue has been significantly reduced due to the government’s decision to introduce a relaxed tax policy in late 2019 to reduce the rates of value added tax, personal income tax, corporate income tax and to reduce the tax base on value added tax and personal income tax
At the same time, the decision has led to a widening of budget deficit and state debt as a percentage of GDP.
Under these circumstances, the proposal made by Hon. Prime Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to instruct the Legislators to prepare the necessary Bills to amend the above Acts with a view to increasing Government Revenue was approved by the Cabinet.
