Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena says that the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill will not be presented to Parliament on July 20 as previously scheduled due to the ongoing court case.
The Supreme Court on Monday (July 11) issued an interim order suspending the increase of VAT from 11% to 15%, after considering a petition challenging the tax hike.
“Because another case has been filed with the court as of today, it (VAT bill) cannot be brought to the Parliament while a case has been filed with the Supreme Court,” Abeywardena told reporters in Colombo on Thursday.
He said that it takes 3 weeks for the Supreme Court to take up the petition again and that they will use this time period to hold discussions and take necessary steps to prepare a suitable environment.
The State Minister said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has appointed a committee to compile a set of proposals regarding the VAT amendment and that it will be presented to the President for a final discussion with the Prime Minister.
