Customs Bill to increase revenue, reduce tax burden - Ravi

The Customs Ordinance Bill had been drafted to revamp the department and increase revenue for the government, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Thursday at a meeting with trade union representatives, civil society activists and representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).

Mr. Karunanayake said the draft bill had been prepared according to the 2016 Budget proposals and was aimed at increasing government revenue and relieving the masses of the tax burden. The draft of the bill would be presented to trade unions and civil society members in the next two weeks to obtain their views, followed by another The racketeers who feared that this bill would curtail their corrupt activities are spreading falsehoods round of talks, he said. “This discussion was held and ideas were exchanged in order to ensure complete transparency,” he told the media after the meeting.

The minister rejected criticism that the bill would protect racketeers. “This bill is being brought with the purpose of not repeating the corruption that was seen during the past eleven years. The racketeers who feared that this bill would curtail their corrupt activities are spreading falsehoods,” he said.

He added that annual income which was around Rs. 300 billion was now about Rs.800 billion due to a clean administration being in place.