The Excise Department has decided not to extend licences for 2025 of liquor producers who do not pay the arrears of taxes for 2023-2024 before November 30.
Excise Commissioner General M. J. Gunasiri told the Daily News that Rs.1.8 billion will be charged as tax arrears and it has been decided not to issue licences to those alcohol producers who do not pay the arrears.
At the beginning of every year, the Excise Department has a tradition of holding discussions with the liquor manufacturing establishments every three months about the revenue targets, the programme to achieve them and the obstacles that arise and the actions taken to solve them.
Gunasiri said that the fourth review for this year was held yesterday (2) at the Excise Department in Colombo and it was significant that representatives of all 27 liquor manufacturing establishments in the country were present.
The Excise Commissioner General said that he has assured that the new government will work to ensure the collection of excise tax revenues and not to interfere in the affairs of the department in any way.
(dailynews.lk)
(This story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has said that an investigation into the recent incident where a student fell from the footboard of a ‘Sisu Sariya’ school bus, has revealed that the accident had resulted from the careless and negligent behaviour of both the driver and the conductor.
Issuing a statement, the NTC noted that, based on the preliminary findings, the Road Passenger Transport Authority of the North Western Province has taken steps to temporarily suspend the services of the driver and conductor involved.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation – K.D. Lal Kantha has announced that the government has decided to import 300,000 MT of maize.
Speaking to the media after attending a District Development Committee meeting at the Kandy District Secretariat yesterday (July 03), the Minister explained that this decision was taken to prevent traders from artificially inflating maize prices.
He stated that certain large and medium-scale businesses dealing with animal feed have been hoarding maize, buying it from farmers at fair prices and reselling it at much higher rates.
According to the Minister, these traders were trying to push maize prices up to Rs.190-200 per kilogram, which would have driven up the cost of eggs to Rs.200 each and increased meat prices significantly.
The Minister emphasized that while businesses are entitled to make a profit, the government will not allow unfair price manipulation. He also noted that, in the past, even ministers profited from animal products, but those days have ended and racketeers will not be allowed to control the market.
To prevent excessive price drops that could hurt farmers, the Food Security Committee has proposed imposing a tax on imported maize, he said.
