Artistes debunk Govt.'s 14% Withholding tax withdrawal

A group of Artistes claimed that, reports that 14% Withholding tax on the sales proceeds of Teledramas has been removed on the instructions of the President, were not correct, as they cannot be implemented without an amendment.

Issuing a statement signed by its Convenor Sudath Rohana, the Free Art Guild (FAG) stated that, under Section 9, Sub Section 2 of the Inland Revenue Act No.24 of 2017, tax exemptions cannot be granted without an amendment introduced to the Act. If the Government did indeed accept that the Withholding tax on teledramas was unfair, it should have amended the Act.

"Issuing directives to TV channels not to charge the Withholding tax, amounts to nothing more than a “media circus”, as such directives have no legal basis, even if they came directly from the President," FAG further said.

On June 6, following discussions held with representatives of associations in the Teledrama and Cinema fields, President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the Minister of Finance to inform the relevant institutions in writing, not to charge the 14% of Withholding tax for the sale of Teledramas.

"Directives to TV channels regarding the Withholding tax, however, would actually result in the producer losing his/her rights over the Teledrama," FAG charged.

"Moreover, following discussions the President held with FAG on June 6, the Commissioner General (CG) of Inland Revenue told the media that the 14% Withholding tax will hereafter not be charged on occasions where the telecast rights of a Teledrama, the screening rights of a Film or, the copyright of a book is sold to other par- ties. This clearly means that, the only way a Teledrama producer could be exempted from the tax is, if he/she sells the rights to his creator," the organization further charged.

FAG stated that, in this context, it is clear that reports claiming that the 14% Withholding tax on Teledramas has not been lifted, contrary to Government pronouncements. "Neither the President nor the CG of Inland Revenue can provide any relief, without first amending the Act," the statement reiterated.

FAG said it regretted that some Artistes acting as servants of the Government, had also helped it to perpetuate the myth that relief had been granted to Artistes, and urged all Artistes in various industries, to unite, to defeat the Government’s programme to hunt down Artistes, using tax Laws.