• Collection surpasses target for 2nd consecutive quarter

Sri Lanka’s income tax office overachieved its tax collection target for the second consecutive quarter as it collects Rs. 902 billion in the first half of 2024, the Committee on Ways and Means revealed.

Accordingly, when the state revenue collection agencies met the Committee on Ways and Means last week, it was revealed that the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) had collected Rs. 902 billion in the first half of the year while its target was Rs. 826 billion.

Similarly, IRD collected Rs. 430 billion of their target of Rs. 381 billion in the first quarter of the year; IRD is given an annual target of Rs. 2,024 billion.

Speaking before the committee, IRD Commissioner General Sepalika Chandrasekara said that IRD will achieve 60% of its annual tax collection target in the second half of the year as most of the payment periods fall into the second half of the year.

Moreover, it was revealed that the advanced personal income tax (APIT) or the PAYE target of Rs. 82 billion for 1H, was also overachieved as IRD has collected Rs. 100 billion.

She said that by 31 May, 1,132,598 tax files have been opened with the IRD out of which 353,465 have registered for APIT.

She added that 255,000 new tax files have been opened in 2024 as of 31 May.

It was also revealed that APIT tax payers are also included among the personal income tax (PIT) files, as when individuals already with an income tax file are included for PAYE for their employee income, then tax collected from such individuals will be considered as PAYE rather than PIT, reducing the PIT collection.

Also, Chandrasekara said that IRD has managed to register five million individuals under the voluntary tax registration through coordination with other state institutions such as the Department of Motor Traffic while only about half of the registered individuals have been informed of the tax identification numbers (TIN).