Insights

Free and Open Access to

Public Finance Data and Analysis

Filter by year

The Alternatives to Universal Tax Registration in Sri Lanka

This note argues that the Sri Lankan government’s recent proposal to implement universal tax registration is neither a viable nor effective strategy to increase the country’s tax revenue. Instead, the note proposes four alternative measures that are more feasible, while stil...

Government Revenue Loss due to the Sugar Tax Cut

The Special Commodity Levy (SCL) on imported sugar was reduced from LKR 50/kg to LKR 0.25/kg on the 13th of October 2020. This was intended to reduce the price of sugar in the domestic market. The cumulative loss of government revenue was ov...

Cigarette Taxation Formula – The Cost of Forgetting

In 2019 the government introduced a policy where taxes and prices on cigarettes would be based on an indexation formula. Forgetting to implement the policy is costly: it has resulted in a foregone revenue of 85 billion from 2020-2022 and will cost a further 45 billion...

Changes in Tax Structure Leads to Shrinking Tax Base across Various Taxes

Sri Lanka experienced a significant change in its tax system for the year 2020. These changes have led to a considerable shrinking in Sri Lanka’s tax base across various taxes. A narrow tax base increases tax administration costs and reduces revenue collection....

Budget Obfuscates Benefit From Cigarette Tax Increase

Tax on Cigarettes is proposed to be increased with immediate effect. As a result, the price of a cigarette will increase by Rupees five (5).

Steering out of the Debt Crisis: Recipes for Budget 2022

“Steering Out of the Debt Crisis: Recipe for Budget 2022” by Verité Research was anchored around addressing Sri Lanka’s debt crisis. The forum presented research and analysis pertaining to debt management a...

How Much Do Casinos Owe the Inland Revenue Department?

In 2015, the government imposed a one-off Casino Industry levy of LKR 1 Bn each on the 4 Casinos established in Sri Lanka. As a result, a total of LKR 4 Bn was owed to the Inland Re...

Tariffs on Powdered Milk

Majority of Import taxes pertaining to milk powder were removed with effect from the 12th of August 2021. The HS codes in relation to the removal of taxes are 040210, 040221 and 040229.

Taxing the Digital Economy

The Minister of Trade, Mr. Bandula Gunawardena recently stated that the Sri Lankan Government is contemplating introducing a system to regulate the online business platforms and bring some of them under its tax...

page 1 of 2

1
2
›