The Hon. Chithral Fernando, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you, Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees. First, I thank the Hon. Deputy Minister for acknowledging that we (the Opposition) filed cases and moved the no-confidence motion against former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

¶ 02 One of today’s subjects is the Order under the Stamp Duty (Special Provisions) Act, No. 12 of 2006, which doubles the stamp duty on lease agreements under Section 3. Generally, stamp duty serves two purposes: to confer a legal evidentiary value on documents, and to raise revenue for the State. The State Minister said the intent is not to raise revenue but to update the law. Let us be candid: since the 16th century in Venice and Spain, stamp duty has primarily been a revenue measure. Do not hide the revenue motive behind “updating.”

¶ 03 Someone asked, “What is Rs. 10 to Rs. 20?” In Colombo’s prime areas, lease agreements run into millions; doubling a per-thousand rate quickly becomes a substantial absolute increase, not a trivial Rs. 10.

¶ 04 We accept the need to raise revenue. But let us not sugar-coat it. Doubling the duty raises a concern: our courts are already overburdened, with reportedly over a million cases. If people evade lawful stamping by moving to informal, unenforceable agreements to avoid the higher duty, more disputes will spill into the courts—exacerbating delays. As a lawyer, I flag that risk; many Members here who are lawyers will appreciate it.

¶ 05 On “updating,” if the government is serious, introduce digital stamping. India has had e-stamping since 2013 under regulations; Indonesia amended its 1986 law in 2021 to introduce digital stamp duty. Here, “updating” has meant raising Rs. 10 to Rs. 20. If updating is the goal, develop and deploy a digital process.

¶ 06 On practice: to stamp a large-value lease, one must buy many Rs. 1,000 stamps—e.g., fifty stamps for Rs. 50,000 duty—fill dates, instrument numbers, sign and sometimes seal each, make photocopies with stamps attached for registration, or alternatively pay at Bank of Ceylon. These are cumbersome. If we had digital stamping via the bank or online, we could streamline compliance and reduce evasion while still raising revenue.

¶ 07 Thank you.