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Casino tax increased by 150%!

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The annual tax for casinos has been increased by 150% from Rs.200 million to Rs.500 million, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siambalapitiya said in a statement.

Accordingly, the increased tax will be in force with effect from August 1.

In addition, the Betting and Gaming Levy Act has been amended with the aim of increasing taxes for the following bets and games.

  1. Charging a higher registration fee for casinos and a $20 fee for a Sri Lankan when entering a casino.
  2. Taxes for other bets and games have been increased as follows.
  • For Live Betting Service Centres,
  1. Increasing the annual tax from Rs.600,000 to at least Rs.1 million.
  2. Increasing the 10% turnover tax to at least 15%.
  • Increasing the annual tax for betting sub-agents from Rs.4 million to at least Rs.5 million.
  • Increasing the annual tax for non-live betting centres from Rs.50,000 to Rs.75,000.

An income tax of 40% is charged from the profit.

In addition to this, the taxes on liquor and tobacco will be amended as follows.

  • A minimum of 75% tax is levied on a bottle of alcohol.
  • Cigarettes are taxed at almost 85%.
  • An income tax of 40% is charged from the profits of these institutions.

BIZ

WhatsApp makes it easier to find chats

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WhatsApp is making it easier to find chats by introducing new features, US technology news website ‘The Verge’ has reported. 

Meta is launching new filters that will appear at the top of your chat list: All (the default view), Unread (just messages marked as unread), and Groups (group chats and Community subgroups), it notes.

The filters start rolling out from Tuesday (16) and will become available to all WhatsApp users “in the coming weeks.”

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Indigo launches Mumbai-Colombo direct flights

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Indigo has expanded its connectivity to Sri Lanka adding Mumbai-Colombo direct flights from today (12), Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Limited said.

Accordingly, Indigo will operate flights three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

At present, Indigo operates to three destinations in India from Colombo (Chennai twice daily, Bengaluru once daily and Hyderabad six days per week). With this new route expansion, this will increase to four destinations, and it will contribute immensely to the development of travel, trade and tourism between Sri Lanka and India. 

With the new addition, Indigo will operate 30 weekly flights to Colombo from four main cities in India.

“AASL recently had successful negotiations with Indigo to commence flight operations between Jaffna and Chennai, India. Accordingly, Indigo will commence direct flight operations between Jaffna and Chennai from June 1, 2024 onwards with daily flight operations. This connectivity will boost travel and trade in the Northern Province, strengthening the cultural and religious bonds between the two nations”, Eng. Athula Galketiya, Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Limited (AASL) said.

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Questions raised on investing in the Ceylon Dollar Bond

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Personal Foreign Currency Accounts (PFCs) and Business Foreign Currency Accounts  (BFCAs) cannot be invested in the Ceylon Dollar Bond Fund, says a spokesman of the Foreign Exchange Department at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

He said that banks are well aware of this.

The spokesman was responding to ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ on queries raised on social media promotions being done by Ceylon Asset Management Co. Ltd, with regard to such investments.

Ceylon Asset Management Co. Ltd. is also a company that is registered with the CSE.

The spokesman further notes that the CBSL has only permitted them to invest in ISBs.

However, promotions done by the company have indicated that dollar investments can also be done through PFCs, and that the investors can expect around a 24% dollar returns.

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Experts state that expecting such high profits in ISB investments, is questionable.

Upon contacting the DG of Ceylon Asset Management Co. Ltd, – Dulindra Fernando, he briefly stated that the CBSL has permitted their company to do such foreign fund transfers while some banks have refused to do so.

However, he urged to submit a formal request via email for further details.

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