Sri Lanka Customs has refuted a claim made by NPP Presidential Candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who alleged that the department has an outstanding tax arrear of 1.1 trillion rupees. According to the Customs Department, the actual amount of outstanding taxes is 58 billion rupees.
Customs officials clarified that the 58 billion rupees in tax arrears involve one private company, while 37 public institutions owe the remainder. The department emphasized that the figure mentioned by Dissanayake is inaccurate.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has set a revenue target of 1,534 billion rupees for Sri Lanka Customs for 2024. As of the end of August 2024, Sri Lanka Customs has already collected 1,000 billion rupees, the highest revenue recorded in its history. Sarath Nonis, Director General of Customs, expressed confidence that the department would meet the annual target within the remaining four months of the year. In 2023, the department achieved its previous highest revenue collection of 975 billion rupees.
Dissanayake made his allegation during a discussion on a private television station on Monday. However, the basis of his claim regarding the 1.1 trillion rupees remains unclear. Further sources to substantiate or challenge this figure have not been provided.
