Court seeks AG’s opinion on Golden Key’s Rs. 50 mn tax evasion case

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo Additional Magistrate Tharanga Mahawatta has instructed the Department of Inland Revenue to obtain the Attorney General’s opinion on recovering over Rs. 50 million in alleged unpaid taxes from Golden Key Private Limited.

The directive was issued after reviewing three cases filed by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue against eight directors of Golden Key, including the late Lalith Kotelawala, Cecilia Kotelawala and Kavan Perera.
The cases involve unpaid taxes amounting to Rs. 16,966,816.83 in Value Added Tax (VAT) and Rs. 38,679,770.80 in Nation Building Tax (NBT) for the period between 2002 and 2009, as well as Rs. 2,242,097 in VAT for 2018. These cases were filed in 2021 to recover the outstanding amounts.

President’s Counsel Mohammad Adamaly, representing the defendants, argued that in line with a Supreme Court ruling, the Attorney General must assist in resolving Golden Key’s financial obligations. He emphasised that the Department of Inland Revenue should act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision.

After considering the submissions, the Magistrate scheduled the case for mention on July 29 to obtain the Attorney General’s opinion.