The Hon. Nishantha Jayaweera - Deputy Minister of Economic Development
Deputy Minister Nishantha Jayaweera, replying on behalf of the Minister of Finance, said the Special Commodity Levy on sugar imports was reduced to 25 cents per kilogram from 14 October 2020 under Gazette Extraordinary No. 2197/12, following a presidential directive to lower duties on sugar, dhal, canned fish and big onions to ease the cost of living. He listed the companies that imported sugar during the period and stated that, according to the Auditor General’s 2022 report, the revenue loss from the reduced levy on 336,949 metric tons of sugar imported up to 28 February 2021 was Rs. 16.76 billion. He outlined subsequent actions, including COPA’s direction for a CID investigation, the CID’s request for a forensic audit, the Auditor General’s position that further criminal investigation falls within the CID’s powers, and Inland Revenue’s ongoing recovery of income tax on importers’ profits.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, I answer as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) By Gazette Extraordinary No. 2197/12 dated 13.10.2020 (Annex 01), with effect from 14.10.2020, the Special Commodity Levy on the importation of sugar was reduced.
¶ 03 (ii) As per the letter dated 13.10.2020 from the Secretary to the President to the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Annex 02), it was directed to remove duties on four commodity categories as a relief to reduce the then prevailing cost of living. Accordingly, the Special Commodity Levy on imports of sugar, dhal, canned fish and big onions was reduced to 25 cents as a nominal duty.
¶ 04 (iii) The companies are listed at Annex 03: 1. Pyramid Wilmar (Pvt) Ltd 2. Peliyagoda Trading Company 3. Amro Sugar 4. Global Trading and Company 5. Wilson Trading Company 6. S.B. Brothers 7. Woodland and Company 8. Cargills Foods Company 9. V.D. Holdings and Commodities
¶ 05 (iv) As per the Audit Report dated 23 March 2022, the tax revenue lost to the Government by charging a levy of 25 cents per kilogram on 336,949 metric tons of imported sugar (277,715 MT white sugar and 59,234 MT brown sugar) during 14.10.2020 to 28.02.2021 amounted to Rs. 16.76 billion.
¶ 06 (v) The Auditor General issued a Special Audit Report on 23 March 2022 on the reduction of sugar tax. The Committee on Public Accounts at its meeting on 21 June 2022 directed the Chief Accounting Officer of the Ministry of Finance to cause an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). On 12 July 2022 the IGP, on a reference by the Ministry of Finance, assigned the matter to the CID. After examination, by letter dated 02 January 2025 the CID requested the Auditor General to carry out a forensic audit (Annex 04). The Ministry of Finance referred this on 21 January 2025 to the Auditor General. By reply dated 07 March 2025, the Auditor General informed that the National Audit Office has no mandate to obtain information and evidence from relevant parties for an expanded criminal investigation; that the CID has that capacity; and that further action should be taken by the CID based on the audit report already submitted by the National Audit Office (Annex 05). Separately, as indicated in the audit report, the Department of Inland Revenue has assessed and is recovering income tax on the profits earned by sugar importers following the levy reduction (Annex 06).
¶ 07 (b) Does not arise.
¶ 08 Annexes 01, 02, 04, 05 and 06 were laid in the Library.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 3 February 2026 ·No. 23252 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Nishantha Jayaweera - Deputy Minister of Economic Development. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 3 February 2026. No. 23252. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8667