Three company directors sentenced over failure to pay VAT
Three Directors of a private company in Kandana that sold and distributed cigarettes have been sentenced to 06 months with simple work, for the failure to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to Rs. 233 million.Colombo Additional Magistrate Bandara Illangasinghe issued the order yesterday (17 Mar) after taking up for consideration a case filed by the Income Tax Commissioner against four directors of the company.
The group had been notified in May 2024 to settle the unpaid VAT amounts for 2016, 2017, and 2019.Their lawyer had informed the court that they were not bound to settle the amount as they no longer worked as the directors of the said company. However, the lawyer representing the Income Tax Commissioner, told the court that the accused had failed to pay VAT while serving as Directors of the Company and had only left after a case had been filed against them.
Taking into consideration the facts, the Colombo Additional Magistrate announced that the accused must pay the pending VAT and failure to do so would see them sentenced to 06 months with simple work.As the accused had failed to settle the VAT payment, prison officials escorted the three accused to prison
