Finance Ministry revives Tax Appeals Commission

The Tax Appeals Commission (TAC), which had been inactive for some time, has been revived, the Finance Ministry said yesterday.

A Finance Ministry statement said the new Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mahinda Rajapaksa had reappointed Justice Hector Yapa as chairman of the Commission and Justice Sunil Rajapakse and S. Swarnajothi, a former Auditor General as a member.

The TAC was established under the Tax Appeals Commission Act no 23 of 2011 to facilitate a more expeditious resolution of disputes that may arise between the tax payer and the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue (CGIR) or the Director-general of Customs (DGC) due to a determination on the imposition of any tax, levy, charge, duty or penalty.

Any aggrieved party could appeal to the TAC, and TAC after having conducted the hearings on the appeals could deliver its determination either by confirming, reducing, or amending the original determination by the CGIR or the DGC.

At present there are about 264 appeals pending, and it is expected that these appeals will be resolved with TAC’S revival.

By activating institutions such as the TAC that is established to provide relief to the tax payers in a more expeditious manner, it is envisaged that the ease of doing business climate in the country will also improve.

In the latest World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, Sri Lanka was ranked 100 among 190 economies, gaining 11 notches from the previous spot.