Other taxes likely to be removed except for VAT: Eran

State Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne said today the Government was gradually removing the various taxes imposed on goods and services so that in future the taxation would be restricted to the Value Added Tax (VAT).

He said most of the countries were imposing VAT, which has been termed as a progressive form of taxation.

The deputy minister said the previous Government had imposed various taxes under different names but those taxes were being removed and only the VAT would remain.

The deputy minister said the Government was considering changing the implementation of VAT and that certain healthcare services including outpatient’s services in private hospitals would be exempted from the VAT.

“Medical tests such as dialysis would be exempted from the VAT and services in the outpatients departments in private hospitals would also be exempted from VAT. But if someone was taking in-house treatment at a private hospital, they would be subjected to the VAT,” he said adding that the Government was studying imposition of the capital gains tax as a form of reducing the income gap which had increased enormously during the past decade.

When asked about reappointment of Central Bank Governor, the deputy minister said it was up to the President to decide after considering several factors including his performance.(Ajith Siriwardana)