The one-time tax surcharge of 25% that is to be imposed on individuals or companies earning an annual taxable income of Rs. 2000 million as proposed by the 2022 Budget, does not include the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Employees Trust Fund (ETF), and 09 other funds, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said yesterday.
The Finance Minister made the observation when assuring the Cabinet of Ministers in this regard during the weekly Cabinet meeting that was held last evening.
“While presenting the 2022 Budget, I proposed that a one-time tax will be imposed on individuals or companies earning an annual taxable income of Rs. 2000 million as per the statistics of 2020 and 2021. The Government expects nearly Rs. 100 billion from this tax,” he explained.
Stating that as per the Budget proposal, 69 such taxable people and companies have been identified, the Minister said as per current calculations the Government will receive Rs.105 billion from the tax.
The Finance Minister reiterated that no decision was taken to impose a tax on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Employees Trust Fund (ETF), and 11 other funds.
He said if a tax is to be imposed on such funds then the Government can obtain an earning of nearly Rs. 85 billion, but no estimate has been done in this regard.
Minister Basil Rajapaksa pointed out that the 11 funds had been identified as taxable by the former Government in 2017 and the decision was reversed by the incumbent Government. (NewsWire)