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Friday, 8 June 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Skandha Gunasekara
Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Parliament yesterday once again challenged former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to a debate on the economic situation of the country during his Government as well as the current administration.
Minister Samaraweera made this challenge while commencing yesterday’s debate on the five notifications under the Excise Ordinance.
The Minister charged that the former President was using Goebbels theory of deceit to tarnish the Government and mislead the masses.
“Goebbels once said that if you repeat a lie continuously, it ultimately becomes the truth. Former President Rajapaksa is using this theory to discredit the Government. His Government practiced fascist ideologies. He claims that the cost of living has increased. It is good. At least now he is taking note of the cost of living since during his presidency, he ate off of the people’s money. His lackeys, too, are spreading the same lie. However, he still has not even responded to my challenge to debate the country’s financial situation now in comparison to it during his Presidency,” Minister Samaraweera remarked.
The Minister went on to say that Rajapaksa’s remark that the latter would reduce taxes by 20% if he comes to power is unrealistic.
“The former President says he will reduce taxes by 20%; but this would mean that he would have to increase indirect taxes, such as VAT, exponentially. He has not revealed any plans on how he would manage the economy by reducing taxes this way. Rajapaksa should know that prices of many food items are still lower than it was during his time.”
Moreover, the Minister said that the Government hopes to reduce indirect taxes by 2.5% and increase taxes by the year 2020.
“40,000 new income revenue files have been opened during the first month after implementing the new Income Revenue Act on 1 April. Our aim is to increase direct taxes and reduce indirect taxes by 2.5% by 2020,” the Minister remarked.
He went on to say the Government would bring in new legislation to amend the tax levied on royalties.
“We accept that the tax imposed on royalties is not fair. We will bring an amendment regarding that soon. If Rajapaksa has concerns, he is always welcome to present his ideas to us.”
