Leakage of tax revenue normal for any State organization: Excise Chief

Any State institution could lose its tax revenue to the government to a certain extent, which is acceptable Excise Commissioner General (ECG) Ariyadasa Bodaragama yesterday said a leakage in tax revenue up to a certain extent was normal and unavoidable in any State organization and refuted claims about the department losing a sum of Rs.80 billion annually to the government.

The Excise Chief was responding to a journalist at a special press briefing held yesterday at the Departmental Headquarters in Rajagiriya said that any State institution could lose its tax revenue to the government to a certain extent, which is acceptable.

Mr Bodaragama was responding to the claims raised by Opposition Parliamentarian Buddhika Pathirana last week, who said the Government was losing a large amount of Rs.80 billion per annum from the Department of Excise, which is one of

the highest tax revenue generators to the State after the Department of Inland Revenue and Sri Lanka Customs.

The top Excise official, however, categorically rejected the claim that Rs.80 billion is lost annually but added a normal tax leakage is unavoidable.

Asked whether the department was planning to issue a new liquor manufacturing license to an interested party in the near future, as alleged by MP Pathirana last week in the House, the Excise Chief said that claim has no base.

“We never issue liquor manufacturing license to anybody without the knowledge of the Minister of Finance,” the ECG said. (KURULU KOOJANA KARIYAKARAWANA)