New taxes for development - Siyambalapitiya
The new taxes will not burden the people but will be used to combat
terrorism, compensate farmers, provide employment and launch development
programs, said Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.
He said over 90 percent of the Government's revenue comes from taxes
and that the revenue obtained from the new taxes will be for development
purposes and not to settle government debts.
"Those who are petty-minded and try to gain political mileage try to
fabricate stories that the Government is obtaining loans for its
expenditure and burdening the masses with more taxes", Siyambalapitiya
said.
The Deputy Minister said the new mobile subscriber levy will not
hamper the growth of the mobile phone industry and its market according
to experts in the telecommunication industry.
The new mobile phone levy created an uproar in the industry but soon
it will be known that there are no adverse consequences on the market",
he said. The government increased the mobile subscriber levy to 10
percent from 2.5 percent. Siyambalapitiya said that it is not true to
say that the government is burdening the people with taxes and not
collecting tax revenue which is due to the Inland Revenue Department.
Steps have been taken to trap tax defaulters and net those evading
taxes. New laws will be introduced to collect Non Performing Loans owed
to State banks now running into billions of rupees.
He said a collective tax on 10 essential food items was introduced as
a measure to ease the burden of consumers who had to pay multiple taxes
on a single item.
Increasing salaries of pubic sector employees and tax exemption for
the fishing community affected by the tsunami, increasing the price of
milk from Rs. 15 to 30 per litre are some of the steps taken to provide
relief to the masses.
The Deputy Minister said the 2008 Budget will focus on accelerating
development programs, identifying present challenges, eliminating
terrorism, fast tracking East development programs and controlling
inflation.
LF |
