Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya

The import duty of Rs.5,000 charged for one kilo of imported beedi leaves has been reduced to Rs.250, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.
He said the purpose of the downward tax amendment was to properly recover the amount of tax revenues lost to the government.

He noted that the imposition of such a high tax has proved impractical, as it has led to numerous beedi leaf importers to resort to informal channels for approximately 75 percent of their imports.

During a discussion held recently at the President’s Secretariat, with the participation of the Beedi Producers Association, a decision was made to reduce the beedi leaf import duty from its previous rate of Rs.5,000.00 per kilo to a new rate of Rs.250.

To compensate for the anticipated revenue shortfall, it was determined that the existing tax of Rs.2.00 per beedi would be raised to Rs.3.50.

Siyambalapitiya said this move would safeguard the livelihoods of those who work under the 700 registered beedi manufacturers in the country.

He also said the government is looking to registering the people producing beedis on a small scale and subjecting them to some regulation and providing them with some coverage.

However, Siyambalapitity stressed that this move is not in any way an attempt to popularise the beedi industry, which is essentially a tobacco product that harms human health, similar to that of cigarettes.