SLFP to hand over VAT report to President
By Uditha Kumarasinghe
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 told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
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 July 20 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. |