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IRD warns nearly 1,000 companies: Pay up or face property seizures

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Nearly 1,000 companies have been issued notice by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to pay up their tax arrears amounting to more than Rs 160 billion in six months or face seizure of bank accounts and property, Commissioner General Sepalika Chandrasekara said.

She told the Sunday Times that the arrears had been due up to the end of last year, and the companies had been given notice to pay the arrears in six months, without any extensions.

She said some of the companies had responded and agreed to the seizure of their properties, enabling the IRD to collect the arrears payments.

The Commissioner General said the companies that had defaulted on their tax payments were being summoned to the IRD to discuss the possibility of recovering the arrears.

She said that on the instructions from the Finance Ministry, they were following a strict procedure for collecting the arrears and that the maximum powers under the Inland Revenue Act would be imposed for the recovery.

Among the tax defaulters have been liquor companies, hotels and real estate firms.

The IRD has appointed an 11-member committee under a Deputy Commissioner General to collect the tax arrears.

Inland Revenue Service Union Secretary H.A.L. Udayasiri told the Sunday Times that among the defaulters were profit-making companies.

He said that in addition to the outstanding Rs 163 billion in tax arrears, there was another Rs 740 billion in tax dues, but cases were pending.

Mr. Udayasiri said the union was supporting the new system to seize properties and bank accounts as it was a faster way to recover the arrears.

He said they also had a court for tax matters to expedite the collection of arrears.

The IRD has been given a revenue collection target of Rs 2,024 billion for this year. Last year, a revenue target of Rs 1,553 billion was achieved, recording a 103 percent recovery. A Finance Ministry official said the IRD had been instructed to get strict on tax collections, making use of the IRD ACT.

(sundaytimes.lk)

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British High Commissioner meets President’s secretary

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A meeting between Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the President, and Andrew Patrick, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka was held today (Nov. 06) at the Presidential Secretariat.

During the meeting, the British High Commissioner expressed his eagerness to further strengthen the strong bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Patrick also highlighted the British Government’s appreciation for Sri Lanka’s ongoing partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and expressed readiness to support the government’s efforts to combat fraud and corruption while boosting state revenue.

Additionally, the High Commissioner emphasized the significance of the British local government system, noting its potential to reduce fraud and corruption. He proposed that steps be taken to educate Sri Lankan parliamentarians about the British parliamentary system to further enhance governance in Sri Lanka.

(President’s Media Division)

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1,996 housing units for low-income persons under China Govt. aid program

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It has been decided to construct 1,996 housing units for low-income persons under the China Government aid program and implement it under 3 packages. 

In order to implement the said project, bids have been called from 8 bidders nominated by the government of China. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Rural and Urban Development, Housing, and Construction to award the contract as follows, based on the recommendation of the Technical Evaluation Committee and the Standing Procurement Committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers.• Package 01 – to award the contract for construction of 575 housing units at Moratuwa and 108 housing units at Kottawa to the M/S China Railway 25th Bureau Group Co. Ltd.
• Package 02 – to award the contract for construction of 586 housing units at Dematagoda and 112 housing units at Maharagama to the M/S China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd.
• Package 03 – to award the contract for construction of 615 housing units at Paliyagoda  to the M/S Shanxi Construction Investment Group Co. Ltd.

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This week’s Cabinet decisions

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A number of decisions have been taken at the Cabinet meeting held yesterday (Nov. 05).

The decisions taken by the Cabinet of Ministers are as follows :

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