The Department of Excise has announced that licences for alcohol producers who fail to pay taxes for the years 2023 and 2024 will not be extended for 2025.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Excise Commissioner General M.J. Gunasiri said: “If there are some 2023 or 2024 default taxes, we have already sent a letter to all defaulters to not issue a liquor licence for 2025.”

When asked whether this regulation would affect alcohol production levels and revenue in Sri Lanka, Gunasiri said that it was highly unlikely. “I don’t think so because the big six companies have produced 90% of the revenue of total production.”

He added that there were several reasons for not paying taxes: “There are many reasons for not paying the taxes by the due date. Sometimes they have not sold the total production to the market. Although they have not sold their production, we have imposed the tax already. Sometimes they are credited for about 75 days or 90 days.”

Gunasiri noted that there was an increase in revenue for 2024 in comparison with 2023: “In 2024, we collected Rs. 162 billion. In 2023, it was only Rs. 122 billion.” 

However, he added that they had not set up a projection for 2025 yet.

He pointed out that the production of illicit liquor could also be traced to the increase in taxes.

“As a result of the increase in liquor taxes, the illicit liquor market will increase. Some research has found that nearly 25-30% of illicit liquor is in the market. I have given instructions to my officers to stop the illicit trade. Next week, we are going to plan our next programme to capture the illicit market.”