State owned national TV – Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation owes the Department of Inland Revenue (IRD) nearly Rs. 750 million as unpaid Value-added Tax (VAT), reports reveal.

It is said that the SLRC had not paid VAT for nearly 05 years.

In this backdrop, the IRD is reportedly taking measures to collect these unpaid taxes from companies that owe money to the SLRC.

Accordingly, the Acting Commissioner General of the IRD has informed the Development Lotteries Board to pay the IRD nearly Rs. 40 million it owes the SLRC monthly, for telecasting lottery draws.

Meanwhile, Dr. Prasad Samarasinghe, who has been functioning as the Chairman of the SLRC for nearly 05 months now, has also reportedly pulled strings to evade paying this tax.

It is said higher officials and the Acting Commissioner General of the IRD have been pressured over the matter, through Media Minister – Bandula Gunawardena, requesting leniency until the end of this year.

However, if a small scale entrepreneur had chosen to pay salaries and other expenses while leaving the taxes unpaid, the IRD would have sought legal redress.

The cause given by the SLRC Chairman for this tax evasion, is the major income slump being faced by the channel.

However, Trade Union representatives are of the view that the Chairman has been trying to peck into the SLRC’s YouTube channel earnings instead of motivating the staff to come up with productions to elevate the channel.

Meanwhile, it is also reported that the conduct of Mr. Samarasinghe had led to IRD doubting whether he is correctly paying taxes due for his local and offshore properties in Australia.

Busy day
Upon contacting the Acting Commissioner General of the IRD  – Mr. Upul Jayawardena in this regard, ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ was told that he is unable to answer our query today as he is tied up with several discussions related to Budget 2024, throughout the day.

VAT increase due to this?
Meanwhile, Cabinet approval was recently granted to increase VAT from 15% to 18% from Jan. 01, 2024.

Speaking to ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ on condition of anonymity, several company owners that are paying taxes, claimed that non-payment of taxes by state institutions had been a factor behind the decision to increase VAT.