President instructs Finance Ministry to stop charging 14% tax on teledrama sales

President Maithripala Sirisena has given instructions to the Minister of Finance to inform the relevant institutions in writing not to charge the 14% of withholding taxes for the sale of teledramas, the President’s Office said in a statement yesterday. 

This tax was levied due to the wrong interpretation of the new tax policy, it added.    

The President further said that if there were any obstacles for the progress of the field of art, including the local cinema industry and the field of teledramas due to the new tax policy, he would take necessary action to provide relief after consulting the relevant institutions. 

He made these remarks during a meeting held with the representatives of the associations of cinema and teledramas at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday. 

The representatives apprised the President in detail regarding the issues faced by them due to the Government’s new tax policy. 

The President said that he would provide fair solutions to these issues in a manner which would not harm the new tax policy of the Government.  

He said it was the duty of the Government to intervene for the protection and progress of cinema, teledramas and other forms of art and the current Government would not hesitate to take any required decisions for this purpose.

The discussion also covered the steps taken by the Government for the protection of cinema and teledrama industries.

The President also inquired into the committees appointed covering all the sections of the field of art as instructed by him earlier and the further steps required to uplift the local cinema and local teledrama industries. He inquired into the progress of the work of the committees and insisted on the need to complete the programmes expeditiously.

Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiywanna, Ministry of Higher Education Secretary J.J. Rathnasiri and other officials, Somaratne Dissnayake, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Nalan Mendis, Attorney-at-Law Douglas Siriwardana, Deepani Silva, Chandani Seneviratne, Inoka Sathyangani, and other veteran artistes were also present.