Excise Department’s monthly income up by Rs. 1 bn, committee reveals

Parliament, Dec. 2 (Daily Mirror)- The monthly income of the Excise Department has increased by Rs. 1 billion after checking fake stickers on liquor bottles, a Parliamentary committee revealed.

This was revealed by the officials of the Excise Department to the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Economic and Physical Plans.

The Excise Department, Inland Revenue Department and Sri Lanka Customs were summoned before the committee to discuss the matters mentioned in the report given to the President by the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Economic and Physical Plans.

The committee inquired about the amendment of the Excise Ordinance Act. The committee also pointed out the need to maintain the revenue that the Excise Department has increased so far and the continuation of random raids will further reduce the fixing of fake stickers on liquor bottles.

The officials present before the committee mentioned that the RAMIS system will be made functional by January 2024 by avoiding the existing deficiencies. The Inland Revenue Department said that the number of tax files is currently around 7 lakhs and it is expected to increase up to 10 lakhs in the future.

Apart from this, the committee also advised the officials to focus on preparing a system for evaluating the parties who pay income tax correctly.