COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says they are not pleased with the amendments made to the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill and will vote against the bill when it is presented in parliament.
JVP Information Secretary Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath addressing media said the government has not done anything to resolve the issues with implementing the VAT and according to the Cabinet Spokesman VAT will be imposed on additional items such as air tickets and milk powder.
He said the JVP will vote against the amended Value Added Tax in Parliament and alleging that both the UNP and SLFP united together to impose VAT, urged the United People’s Freedom Alliance Parliamentarians who have been issuing statements against the amended VAT should also vote against the bill in parliament.
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers Tuesday approved to amended VAT bill, which aims to raise VAT to 15 percent from 11 percent while stipulating a higher threshold that will drop small businesses from the tax net.
MP Herath said that by the time the Supreme Court ordered the amendment of the VAT bill in July, the government had charged VAT from the people since May 2016 and although it has been suspended now, the additional taxes charged have not been returned to the public.
The JVP MP said the general public has the right to obtain their tax money back and called on the government to create a mechanism in order to immediately pay back the VAT charged from the general public before the court ruling.
He said it is the government’s responsibility to find a way to pay the taxes back as many private institutions, companies and vendors paid the tax.
Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said the amendments to the bill reduced the impact of the VAT increase on people and small businesses and the increase will be a temporary measure to pay back the loans to the tune of Rs 1.3 trillion taken by the previous government. He said the VAT problem is a temporary issue and the government will only impose these VAT conditions for nine months to cover the debts.
