Inland Revenue Act not in accordance with constitution: SC

The Supreme Court has determined that certain clauses in the new Inland Revenue Act are not in accordance with the constitution, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya informed Parliament this morning (4). 

Therefore the court recommends that the Act needs to be passed with a special majority or else the clauses in questions need amending, the Speaker stated. 

 The new Inland Revenue Act, the island nation´s major tax reform since independence from Britain in 1948, seeks to expand the tax net and seek to stamp out evasion, when implemented at the start of the next fiscal year on April 1, 2018.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had recently stated that the bill will seek to ensure that all citizens pay direct taxes and cut indirect taxes.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has demanded the bill as a condition for a third tranche of aid disbursed last month, had welcomed the new Inland Revenue Act, saying that it should boost tax revenues and improve tax administration.

Opposition parties including the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Joint Opposition have objected to the proposed bill, accusing the government of preparing it as per the needs of the IMF.