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Tax concessions account for half of the budget deficit

All sorts of tax concessions (reported as “tax expenditure”)costs the government almost a trillion rupees a year in potential revenue. In the financial year 2023/24 the tax expenditure statement published by the gove...

Property Taxes: No Thanks but Many Thanks to the IMF

This article was compiled by Professor Mick Moore. Professor Mick Moore is a political economist and Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development St...

The Best Next Step for Improving Tax Collection

This article was compiled by Sumini Siyambalapitiya. Sumini Siyambalapitiya is a former Lead Analyst in the Economics team of Verité Research and se...

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...

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