SLFP to Hand Over VAT Report to President

In the wake of the VAT hike affecting the public, the committee appointed by the SLFP to study the recent VAT hike will present its report to President Maithripala Sirisena this week, State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

The SLFP committee would reveal its stance and hand over the report to President Maithripala Sirisena. The report will comprise four recommendations on ways and means to ease the VAT burden and increase state revenue, the Minister said.

SLFP parliamentarians holding ministerial portfolios met at the Disaster Management Ministry a few days ago and appointed a committee to study the recent VAT hike and discuss it with the President.

The committee comprises Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Mahinda Amaraweera, Dilan Perera and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena.

However, the proposed Value Added Tax Amendment Bill will not be presented in Parliament on 20 July 2016 as scheduled.

The Supreme Court on July 11 issued an interim order suspending the increase of VAT from 11 percent to 15 percent after considering a petition challenging the VAT hike. In addition, another case was also filed in the Supreme Court regarding the VAT hike.

“The SLFP committee is holding discussions to give the final touches to the report to be submitted to the President this week. Once the report is presented to the President, he will discuss it with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

A wrong impression has been created in the minds of the public that VAT has been increased by 15 percent, but it was only increased from 11 percent to 15 percent, which is merely a four percent increase. This is basically a problem relating to state revenue but unfortunately it has caused misunderstanding,” he said.

The Minister added that some problems have arisen with regard to the ambit of VAT application as well. The committee will have to go into all the implications. The Minister said the President would not take decisions inimical to the public interest as borne out by his recent decision on the appointment of the Central Bank Governor. President Sirisena at a recent meeting in Polonnaruwa said that he would not allow unnecessary taxes to be levied on the people.

Courtesy – Sunday Observer