News Room : Taxpayer friendly Inland Revenue Dept. urgent need – The Island
Many compliant taxpayers have expressed their frustration with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for insisting that the Return of Income for the year of assessment 2023/2024 be filed as an electronic return (e-return). It is perplexing why such a requirement is being enforced in a country such as ours where computer skills are woefully lacking. In many other countries...
News Room : Now is the time to rethink trade – The Island
by Prof. Chanaka Jayawardhena,Professor of Marketing, University of Surrey, UK.Chanaka.j@gmail.com Sri Lanka finds itself at a crossroads. The devastation caused by Cyclone Fengal, which displaced over half a million people, destroyed critical infrastructure, and claimed numerous lives, highlights the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. At the same time, the nation is tentatively emerging from its first-ever sovereign debt default, buoyed...
News Room : 55 vulnerable Sri Lankans evacuated from Lebanon – The Island
By Shamindra Ferdinando The newly elected National People’s Power (NPP) government intends to restructure the existing Sectoral Oversight Committees (SOCs) meant to examine Bills except those defined in Article 152 of the Constitution, treaties and reports, including annual and performance reports pertaining to institutions coming under their purview. Parliament and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would examine the government’s proposal...
News Room : Mafia behind coconut shortage – Trade Minister
111 Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said in Parliament yesterday that there is a mafia behind the prevailing coconut shortage in the local market. He said that it is just an artificial shortage and there is no real shortage of coconuts in the country. He was responding to a question by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Hambantota District Parliamentarian D. V. Chanaka. Minister Samarasinghe said...
News Room : Vote on Account allocates monies for four months
97 The Government’s Interim Vote on Account seeking Parliament’s approval to spend Rs. 1,403 billion from January 1, 2025 to April 30, 2025 for maintaining state affairs and continuing ongoing projects was presented to Parliament yesterday by the Leader of the House, Minister Bimal Ratnayake. This Interim Vote on Account, which is intended to continue Government operations and debt servicing for...
News Room : President’s and former President Ranil’s allocations same – MP Kabir
155 Kegalle District SJB MP Kabir Hashim yesterday accused the Government citing that the budget of Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake are the same. Hashim said the Interim Vote on Account presented yesterday allocated the same amount to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the first four months of 2025 as was allocated to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe for the...
News Room : People have volunteered to pay their taxes – Minister Sunil Handunnetti
107 Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti said in Parliament yesterday that the people of this country have volunteered to pay their taxes. He said that the people of this country which includes industrialists and entrepreneurs were not refusing to pay their taxes. The only issue was that they were not fully aware of what was happening to their tax money....
News Room : Sri Lanka’s pace ace on brink of 100 Test wickets glory – The Island
Bangladesh posted their first Test win in the West Indies in 15 years when they beat the hosts by 101 runs in Jamaica. It was a remarkable comeback by the visitors after their big defeat in the first Test in Antigua, with the series finishing 1-1. It was cathartic for a side that lost their last five Tests so...
News Room : Sathosa to sell rice at Rs. 220 per kilo
98 Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe told Parliament yesterday that action will be taken to sell 200,000 kilograms of rice daily to the public through the ‘Lanka Sathosa’, at a controlled price of Rs.220 per kilo to the public from today. The Minister also said that steps will be taken to provide a coconut to the...
News Room : President’s Policy statement passed without division
125 The resolution on the Statement of the Government Policy presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Parliament on November 21 was passed unanimously in Parliament yesterday without a vote. The Opposition did not state that a division was needed on the Government’s Policy statement and therefore the resolution was passed unanimously, Speaker Dr. Ashoka Ranwala announced. The debate on the...