The Inland Revenue Department has issued around 900 notices to freeze the bank accounts of tax defaulters to recover outstanding taxes, the Parliamentary Committee on Ways and Means reported.
Chairman of the Committee MP Patali Champika Ranawaka said the measure has been taken as the Treasury has faced a significant loss of approximately Rs. 2 trillion due to tax exemptions totalling Rs. 978 billion and an inability to collect over Rs. 1 trillion by Sri Lanka’s key revenue agencies.
MP Ranawaka further said, however, that the Inland Revenue Department, Sri Lanka Customs, and the Excise Department have shown some progress and have collected Rs.1,680.2 billion in the first half of the year, representing 44 per cent of the expected revenue.
Commenting on the Inland Revenu Department, the MP said that even though there are about 13 million eligible taxpayers aged over 18, Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) have been issued to only 5 million.
Stating that TINs to the remaining eligible individuals are expected to be issued by year-end, MP Ranawaka said the authorities are facing a challenge in integrating TINs with other government identification systems, such as driving licenses.
On Sri Lanka Customs, the MP said significant issues have been found with the invoicing, such as under-invoicing, over-invoicing, and ghost invoicing, all of which hinder proper tax collection.
The continuous use of the temporary scheme initially introduced during the food shortages and dollar scarcity, notably for 65 per cent of imported goods, particularly food items, has resulted in an annual loss of approximately US$ 4 billion, surpassing Sri Lanka’s balance of payments deficit, he pointed out.
On the Excise Department, MP Ranawaka said the department has reported uncollected taxes totalling Rs. 7.9 billion, with significant amounts owed by 10 distillery companies.
The Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means revealed that despite repeated warnings to revoke licenses and recover these taxes, the Excise Department claims it cannot act without direct orders from the Ministry of Finance.
