Sri Lanka's tax revenues from vehicle imports increase more than three-fold

Tax revenues from vehicle imports rose sharply more than three-fold after the import duties on vehicles were slashed, the Sri Lankan government said today.

The Director-General for fiscal policy of the Ministry of Finance and Planning S.R.Attygalle has said the government earned 1.7 billion rupees in July alone on vehicle import tax revenue after import taxes were slashed in June.
The government has earned only about Rs. 500 million in May, before the tax-cut.
The government slashed the taxes on car imports by 50% with effect from June 01 in response to the request of the importers who lamented that vehicle imports had come down by 90% last year due to high taxes levied.
One of the objectives of reducing import tax was to raise tax revenue by encouraging more vehicle imports.
The Finance Ministry expects tax revenue from vehicle imports to increase further in August as vehicle prices would come down further affording the people to purchase more vehicles.
Earlier cars were subjected to as much as 300% taxes in excise duties, import duties, value added taxes, port and airport development levies and national security levies in addition to the 15% surcharge on all imported items.