The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, as we debate the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill, several points arise. For the first time in Sri Lanka, we are moving to prosecute non-payers of PAYE/withholding or similar obligations. A Magistrate may impose a fine not exceeding Rs. 400,000 or imprisonment up to six months, or both, at his discretion. A Member said these punishments target those who do not pay taxes. Imposing penalties on evaders is fine. The issue is that, once this law is in force, it can affect any taxpayer in the future, not just historically. In the past, Champika Ranawaka and I worked hard in the Committee on Standing Orders and Procedures to get non-payers to pay—this is not that. Now, with the broadened tax base and reduced expenditure thresholds (e.g., reducing limits from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million), even those earning around Rs. 9 million per quarter will be liable. That impact will be felt across ordinary taxpayers. There are multiple clauses such as failure to register with the Commissioner General, etc., which, if violated, attract criminal cases—first time in Sri Lanka.

¶ 02 There are taxpayers for every commodity—fuel, electricity, and others—but also people who do not pay any tax and still receive Rs. 15,000-20,000 monthly benefits. What have you done for genuine tax payers? Do they at least get priority services, a card, or some benefit? No. Frankly, those who pay are the ones you now plan to punish. That is why we must speak about this.

¶ 03 Today is also the day we commemorate war heroes. Last year, the President had to push hard to conduct the Remembrance. Today, anyone who takes up arms against a Government is a terrorist and should be treated as such. There cannot be one group as war heroes and another as a “liberation army.” We must recognize the suffering of Tamil people and also the civilians killed in 1971 and 1988-89. In war, such tragedies happen. But today’s commemoration is being conducted sidelining former leaders like Mahinda Rajapaksa and senior military officers. This is an ad-hoc commemoration.

¶ 04 On taxes, on 13.10.2023, Mr. Sunil Handunnetti said, “Raise taxes if you must; we won’t pay.” Now they are asking everyone to pay and to stop asking for concessions. The Government faces many crises. The President said diesel must be given at Rs. 720.

¶ 05 On 30.04.2026, I sought information from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation under RTI: what unsolicited proposals, quantities, spot tenders, who submitted, and at what prices diesel/petrol were purchased. To date, 66% of that information is not provided. Why hide it? As much as you levy taxes, you are also inflating fuel prices and effectively extracting excess from the people.

¶ 06 Regarding vehicle imports, as MP Chamal Sampath noted, you imposed a 50% surcharge. Before that, the President went to Matale and Nuwara Eliya and said imports must be restricted. The day before, US$ 20 million was released by the Central Bank—if not, let the Governor clarify.