COPA orders tax report from IRD

•  Report to be submitted within 2-5 months on defaulted taxes and penalties owed
• RAMIS system identifies Rs. 87 b owed from companies, Rs. 183 b total outstanding as of last June 
• Rs. 18 b tax arrears under legacy system as of end March 

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) yesterday directed the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to submit a report within five months detailing outstanding taxes and penalties in default that are estimated to be as much as Rs. 183 billion. 

COPA said the report should be submitted within two to five months and include the amount of taxes and penalties defaulted to be recovered from taxpayers without any complications and the amount where recovery is possible but contains considerable issues.

The directive to submit the report was made by MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who served as the COPA Chairperson.

The acting Chairperson further instructed the Department to submit a report to the Committee within five months on the amount of taxes and penalties in default to be recovered without any complications in relation to the RAMIS system and the amount where recovery is possible but contains considerable issues.

According to the Legacy system, Rs. 18 billion had been identified as tax arrears of the identified companies as at 30.03.2021, and it was disclosed that it was 17% compared to the total outstanding revenue of Rs. 107 billion as of 30 June 2020.

According to the RAMIS system, Rs. 87 billion had been identified as tax arrears of the identified companies on 30.03.2021 and it was disclosed that it was an increase of 47.5% compared to the total outstanding revenue of Rs. 183 billion as of 30 June 2020.

The Committee informed the IRD that all arrears pertaining to the Legacy System should be recovered expeditiously and action should be taken to end the functions of the system.

The Committee had earlier instructed the Ministry of Justice to implement a program to expedite the proceedings in the courts regarding the recovery of tax arrears and the process on this regard was taken into review.

The Ministry of Justice informed the Committee that the matter has been discussed with the Judicial Service Commission and that a proper mechanism is currently underway to expedite cases in the court proceedings regarding the recovery of tax arrears. State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Hon. Members of Parliament Tissa Attanayake, Niroshan Perera, Dr. Upul Galappaththi, B.Y.G Ratnasekera marked their attendance at this COPA meeting, which was held to review the progress of the implementation of the directives given during the discussions held on 6 January and 10 March pertaining to the Special Audit Report – Taxes and Penalties in default to be recovered from taxpayers.