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COPF calls for analytical report on export levy hike

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The Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill considered at the Committee on Public Finance

Chairman of the Committee of Public Finance (COPF) – Dr. Harsha de Silva instructed officials to the Ministry of Finance that an analytical report be submitted on the increase of export levy as per the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill which is expected to be passed in Parliament.

The Chairman instructed the above at the COPF held in Parliament on Monday (28) taking up the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill into consideration.

The Committee also instructed the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Inland Revenue to indicate the expected revenue for each sector by increasing the tax of 14% to 30%.

Furthermore, the chairman of the committee informed to submit a detailed report on the amount of income obtained falling under the respective export sectors in consideration of the previous tax rates.

The committee pointed out that instead of short-term efforts to increase the government’s income by raising export taxes, long-term action should be taken, and export taxes should be collected so as not to discourage exporters who bring dollars to the country. Therefore, the chairman of the committee said that the draft Bill should be considered pertaining to the lowering of the export tax percentage at the committee stage.

Furthermore, the proposed increase in personal income tax was also discussed at the Committee meeting held. The committee informed the officials to present a comparative analysis with the existing conditions of other countries in the region on this regard.

Thus, subject to the above instructions, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill received the approval of the Committee on Public Finance.

Board related to casino regulation

The absence of a separate regulatory board related to casino regulation was also discussed at length. Although the Casino Business (Regulation) Act No. 17 of 2010 exists to provide the necessary legal provisions for the casino business at present, it is not sufficient for regulatory activities including revenue recovery and therefore, a separate regulatory authority should be established under the said amendments was pointed out by the Committee.

Thus, the committee informed the officials of the Ministry of Finance to submit an action plan as previously notified on the matter.

Minister Nalin Fernando, State Ministers Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, Dr. Suren Raghavan, Dr. Seetha Arambepola, Members of Parliament Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, M. A. Sumanthiran, Chandima Weerakkody, Mayantha Dissanayake, Madhura Withanage and Prof. Ranjith Bandara were present at the Committee meeting held.

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Assets of 02 police officers to be probed

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Assets of two prominent police officers are to be probed after authorities received a number of complaints, highly placed sources in the government say.

One officer in question is a DIG while the other is a SSP, reports add.

The Police Illegal Assets And Property Investigation Division are conducting further investigations.

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AG seeks CID probe into social media smear campaign against his staff

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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has opened a probe following a complaint by Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe that his staff have been unduly targeted by false allegations on social media.

The AG’s instruction to the CID came after several of his staff complained to him over the allegation on social media.

Particularly targeted are senior AG’s Department officials awaiting promotions, sources said.

In one of the posts, a senior officer was accused of being supportive of granting bail to Thamil Makkal Viduthal Puligal (TMVP) leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillaiyan, when his fundamental rights application over his arrest was taken up. During the hearing of the FR case, the matter of bail was not even considered, the sources said.

Another allegation was that in a case related to the suspended Police Chief Deshabandu Tennakoon, the AG prevented a senior officer from representing the department and instead sent a junior officer. However, on the particular day, the senior officer was indisposed, the sources said.

These allegations surface as the AG’s Department has filed more than 600 new indictments in High Courts so far this year, while the Bribery Commission has also referred several bribery and corruption cases to the AG for prosecution.

(sundaytimes.lk)
(This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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19-yr. old dies after falling from elevator

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A 19-year-old youth has died after falling from a service elevator at a hotel in the Pannai area, in the Jaffna Police Division.

According to the police, the incident had occurred last night (June 21) and the deceased has been identified as a resident of Nirveli, Jaffna.

According to investigations, the youth was employed at the hotel and had been using the service elevator -intended for transporting goods.

Further investigations are underway.

This incident follows a similar case recently reported from a hotel in Moratuwa last week.

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19-yr.-old dies after hotel elevator collapses

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