‘New taxation bill will be presented in parliament’ | Daily News

‘New taxation bill will be presented in parliament’

A new taxation bill will be presented to Parliament within the next two months to introduce a consistent and a stable taxation act, Finance State Minister Eran Wickramaratne said.

Speaking at a media briefing at Sirikotha, United National Party (UNP) Headquarters yesterday, he said that actions would be taken to reduce and completely abolish several taxes gradually over a period of time, while the Value Added Tax (VAT) would be unaffected under the new act.

The State Minister said arrangements would be made to omit tax holidays according to the new taxation act and tax concessions would be provided only for few selected fields.

“Taxes are the main source of income for a government to fund development projects of a country and it is a compulsory payment made by every citizen without any partiality.

Therefore, a government’s aim must not be to adapt a taxation policy accepted by every citizen but develop a simple and a consistent policy to refrain from creating any uncertainties in the future,” he said.

He said nine commissioners including retired judges of the Supreme or the Appeal Courts and officers with the experience in finance management and taxation would be appointed to the Tax Appeals Commission to overcome the shortage of expertise to handle issues related to taxation in the country. 


Add new comment