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Tax arrears due to lengthy judicial process – COPA

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The Commissioner General of Inland Revenue H. M. C Bandara had informed the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) that his department had not been able to recover billions of rupees in tax arrears due to lengthy judicial process and the attendant delays, COPA Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitharana told a committee meeting recently.

The COPA stressed the need to expedite the court process to recover the arrears and prevent delays and decided to summon the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Department for a discussion.

COPA chairman Prof. Vitharana said that the tax system should be streamlined and steps taken to change laws, if necessary.

The COPA also said that the amount of tax that needed to be recovered was higher than what was recorded. It informed the Inland Revenue Department that it should be resolved soon. The Committee directed the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue to submit a report by March 31, 2021.

The Committee also directed the Inland Revenue Department to expedite the recovery of tax arrears and fines.

The Committee also pointed out the importance of merging institutions including the Department of Motor Traffic, Land Registry Offices with the Department of Inland Revenue for the tax collection process. The Inland Revenue Department said 29 connected institutions had been identified thus far and the COPA Chairman said that the Inland Revenue Department and other agencies would be summoned to discuss the matter.

State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Members of Parliament Tissa Attanayake, Niroshan Perera, Mohamed Muzammil, S. Sridharan, Dr. Upul Galappaththi, B.Y.G Ratnasekera, and Weerasumana Weerasinghe along with a group of government officials were present at the meeting.



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Veteran singer and musician Professor Sanath Nandasiri passed away at the age of 81

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Overtime gravy train for public sector back

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Govt. MPs make contradictory statements on state of economy

By Shamindra Ferdinando

UNP National List MP Wajira Abeywardena on Sunday (26) disclosed the issuance of a circular by the Finance Ministry to restore overtime and other payments in the public sector.

The declaration was made in Galle soon after Transport and Media Minister Bandula Gunawardane lamented that the government was short of billions of rupees to pay public sector salaries, pensions, Samurdhi payments and meet recurrent expenditure.

Minister Gunawardena and UNP National List MP Abeywardena addressed the local media after the handing over of several buses to the Galle SLTB depot.

Cabinet Spokesman Gunawardena said that the government needed as much as Rs 196 bn before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and its projected revenue was Rs 173 bn. In addition to that Rs 500 mn was required to settle what Minister Gunawardena called bilateral debt.

Minister Gunawardane said that a part of the first tranche of USD 333 mn from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be utilised to pay public sector salaries.

Of the USD 333 mn received so far, USD 121 had been used to pay the first installment of USD 1 bn credit line secured from India early last year, according to State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera in the second week of August last year revealed as much as Rs 3 bn had been paid as overtime to Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) workers for several months. This disclosure was made in response to a query raised by Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella.

One of the major demands of the public sector trade unions on the warpath over the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government’s new tax formula is the restoration of overtime.

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Now, Opposition wants Finance Secy. hauled up before Privileges Committee

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Prof G L Peris

Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (27) urged Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to act speedily on the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) request to summon Finance Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena before the parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

Addressing the media on behalf of the Freedom People’s Alliance, the former External Affairs Minister said that the Treasury Secretary had challenged the parliament by withholding funds allocated in the budget 2023 to the Election Commission thereby sabotaging the election.

Prof. Peiris said that there couldn’t be a far worse violation of parliamentary privileges than a government official undermining Parliament.

Instead of appreciating the intervention made by the Supreme Court to facilitate the delayed Local Government polls, the ruling party had sought to challenge the apex court, Prof. Peiris said, urging Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to fulfill his obligations.

Prof. Pieris said that if the government lacked funds, just one percent of USS 333 mn received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was sufficient to conduct the election.

The ex-minister said that the IMF wouldn’t oppose the utilisation of a fraction of the first tranche of USD 2.9 bn loan facility provided over a period of four years to guarantee the constitutional rights of the Sri Lankan electorate. (SF)

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