Inland Revenue Bill 2017

The Inland Revenue Bill 2017 stems from a policy pronouncement of the Budget 2016 announced by MP Ravi Karunanayake in his capacity as the Finance Minister on the 20th November 2015. The Bill together with the committee stage amendments was passed in Parliament on the 7th of September 2017. The Bill is currently pending certification by the Speaker and will thereupon be signed into law.

The redrafting of the tax laws was set to bring about necessary improvements to the legal framework to ensure clarity, consistency and simplicity towards reflecting the features of modern tax systems in a bid to help taxpayers understand the system easily and eliminate loopholes that have been created by the ambiguities in laws while strengthening tax administration. In this tax alert, we have outlined the salient amendments made to the Inland Revenue Bill together with the committee stage amendments.