10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

New Democratic Front· National List· 8 July 2025 ·Debate: Debate: Imports and Exports (Control) Act - Salt Import Regulations (Gazette No. 2437/04)

Public Finance
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Hon. Ravi Karunanayake questioned how VAT would apply to foreign digital and booking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Agoda.com and Booking.com when Sri Lankan companies already pay VAT locally. He warned of potential double taxation or inconsistent treatment where value is added abroad or services are hosted through jurisdictions such as Singapore, and asked for clarification to help address the issue.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 What about Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Agoda.com, Booking.com platforms? If a Sri Lankan company pays VAT here and a foreign platform adds value abroad, we could get double treatment. If Lankan companies host via Singapore, more issues arise. I ask so we can help you fix it.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Tuesday, 8 July 2025 ·No. 1752482630017444 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
Page · column
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Permalink
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 July 2025. No. 1752482630017444. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/10919