Govt mulls expanding tax base, Siyambalapitiya says

The government is mulling the implementation of a program to expand the tax base instead of repeatedly increasing the tax levies, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says.

Speaking to the media, the lawmaker vowed to take necessary measures to gradually reduce the tax percentages in the future.
 

Siyambalapitiya made these remarks while inspecting a consignment of illegally-imported cigarettes impounded by Sri Lanka Customs.

A total of 556,000 cigarette sticks had been smuggled in by a company approved by the Board of Investment (BOI) on the pretext of importing machinery.

The contraband, worth nearly Rs. 85 million, is currently placed at the Customs’ container terminal in Orugodawatte.