A new gazette notification has been issued, revising the procedures related to the payment deadlines and fee collection for excise duties on alcohol production.
Effective from today (28), the gazette was issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
The gazette notification states that every license holder must pay the applicable excise duty on or before the due date, in accordance with Section 22 of the Excise Ordinance.
Accordingly, if a licence holder fails to fully pay the due tax or fee within 30 days from the specified date, their bottling licence will be suspended, as outlined in the new gazette.
The Excise Department noted that this regulation had not been enforced previously and is now being introduced as a new legal provision.
Additionally, if the tax or fee remains unpaid for more than 90 days from the due date, all licences held by the individual will be suspended, as per the new gazette.
Previously, the suspension period for licences was six months, but the new regulation has reduced this to three months, according to the Excise Department.
It is reported that the revision of the tax payment timeline has been introduced with the aim of minimizing tax evasion in the excise sector. (Newswire)