Liquor producers with fake security stickers have evaded Rs.6Bn tax COPA orders Excise Dept. to cancel licenses of perpetrators

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Instead of imposing trivial fines and allowing settlement plans, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has ordered the Department of Excise to execute maximum penalty of cancelling the licenses of liquor producers, who evade billions of tax revenue to the government by being involved in fake security sticker scam.   

It was reported that certain local liquor manufacturing companies have been engaged in intentional crimes like using fake security stickers and engaged in tax fraud up to billions of rupees should be dealt with the maximum penalty of cancellation of liquor manufacturing license. 

 The COPA claimed that the Department of Excise is simply carrying out minor settlement plans by imposing trivial fines on these perpetrators, thus encouraging them to repeat the scam.   
Chairman of COPA State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna has instructed the Secretary of Finance Ministry to take action via Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya to abolish the provision of settlement for the perpetrators included in the Excise Ordinance.  This transpired when the representatives of the Excise Department were summoned by the COPA to discuss the penalties imposed by the latter on errant liquor manufacturers who had evaded tax revenue up to Rs.6, 666 million.   

The recent discussion, which was conducted by committee members Suresh Raghavan, Jayantha Ketagoda, Chamara Sampath and Weerasumana Weerasinghe was attended by representatives of the Finance Ministry and Excise Department.