8 February 2016 08:59 am
By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry will be reviving two advisory committees to look into customs tariffs and tax-related issues, top officials said.
“We will set up two committees: the Tax Advisory Committee and the Customs Advisory Committee, and we will try to resolve the tariff and tax-related issues,” Treasury Secretary Dr. R. H. S. Samaratunga said at the sixth Ease of Doing Business Forum’ held last week.
He said that some small issues had become needlessly bloated and had to be intensely debated until solutions were found.
“Several letters come to the Treasury with regard to customs tariffs as well as taxation-related issues. In the past, we dealt with these through the two committees,” he added.
According to Dr. Samaratunga, the committees will be made up of heads of departments in the Finance Ministry, as well as leaders of business chambers.
“The representatives will get together, and we will listen to the grievances and issues put to us by the various parties,” he said.
He said that some of these nitty-gritty issues can be resolved within the Treasury, which would free up time during the Ease of Doing Business Forums to focus on bigger issues.
He was responding to MAS Active Trading (Pvt) Ltd when the company complained that it had not received value added tax (VAT) refunds and import credit vouchers since 2012.
Most issues at the Ease of Doing Business Forum revolve around customs and taxation.
Deputy Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle added that the Treasury is open to recommendations from the private sector on how to improve these processes.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the committee will have to resolve issues within a short time frame.
“Let’s bring the committees back with time targeting, so that you have a time target to give a response,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karunanayake reprimanded the department heads who attend the Ease of Doing Business Forums and always respond to the problems of the private sector with ‘we will look into it’.
“There should be no excuses in our Ministry. We have to get things moving. You can’t come here and say you’ll look into it. You have to come here with answers. Stop wasting time,” he said.