Sri Lankan retailers briefed on new airport VAT refund scheme

The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) member company representatives recently participated in an awareness programme conducted by the officials of the RAMIS Project Office of Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to educate and promote implementation of the Tourist VAT Refund Scheme ( TVRS) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

The scheme was launched on Monday.

TVRS will be launched initially as a pilot project by IRD on a manual system and will be graduated to a fully automated RAMIS system operated by IRD connecting on-line with authorised retailers in future, the SLRA said in a media release.

The TVRS has been introduced by the Inland Revenue Department under Section 58A of the Value Added Tax Act, No. 14 of 2002 (amended by Act) and implemented by Gazette notifications of Commissioner General of Inland Revenue and Minister of Finance accordingly.

Foreign tourists who purchase specified goods exceeding Rs. 50,000 exclusive of VAT from authorised retailer outlets in Sri Lanka are eligible to claim a VAT refund at the airport as per applicable terms and conditions of the TVRS system.

They can claim a VAT refund by presenting the TVRS Tax invoice for specified goods purchased to the Customs Officer at the TVRS counter and there- after on approval encash the TVRS voucher in US dollars from the Bank of Ceylon Transit branch at the airport, IRD officials said in the presentation.

SLRA members comprising representatives from Abans, Avirate, Cool Planet, Cool Kidz, Cotton Collection, Damro, Dankotuwa Porcelain, Exclusive Lines, Hameedia, Leather Collection,No Limit, Odel, Softolgic, Shirtworks, The Factory Outlet and Thilakawardene Textiles attended this awareness programme.