Over 25 Billion Revenue Leakage since 2025 by cut on Cigarette Taxes

Verité Research Unveils Real-Time Tracker to Monitor Tax Loss Colombo, 14 July 2026.

The WHO recommends a minimum tax share of 75% of the retail price of cigarettes. Sri Lanka last came close to this benchmark in 2018 (74%) but has since failed to maintain it, with the tax share falling to 67% from 2025 onwards. 

The Government of Sri Lanka lost over LKR 25 billion in potential tax revenue since 2025 due to cigarettes being taxed lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark.

The tax revenue loss was over LKR 8 billion during the first six months of 2026 alone. This is revealed in the ‘Cigarette Tax Leakage Tracker,’ a new online dashboard launched by Verité Research to monitor these fiscal losses minute-by-minute.

The dashboard can be seen on PublicFinance.LK, Sri Lanka’s premier platform for public finance insights and analysis.

https://dashboards.publicfinance.lk/cigarette-tax-leakage/