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Property Taxes: No Thanks but Many Thanks to the IMF

This article was compiled by Professor Mick Moore. Professor Mick Moore is a political economist and Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development St...

Cigarette Taxation Formula – The Cost of Forgetting

In 2019 the government introduced a policy where taxes and prices on cigarettes would be based on an indexation formula. Forgetting to implement the policy is costly: it has resulted in a foregone revenue of 85 billion from 2020-2022 and will cost a further 45 billion...

Changes in Tax Structure Leads to Shrinking Tax Base across Various Taxes

Sri Lanka experienced a significant change in its tax system for the year 2020. These changes have led to a considerable shrinking in Sri Lanka’s tax base across various taxes. A narrow tax base increases tax administration costs and reduces revenue collection....

Effectiveness of Tax Amnesty in Sri Lanka

On 9 July 2021, the government gazetted a new finance bill aimed to indemnify individuals who voluntarily disclose their hitherto undisclosed income—that is to a provide a tax amnesty.