Ceylon Chamber welcomes postponement of SVAT abolition

Friday, 31 March 2017 04:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday welcomed the decision by the Ministry of Finance to postpone the abolition of the SVAT system that was due to come into effect on 1 April 2017.

The move followed joint submissions made by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), Exporters Association of Sri Lanka (EASL), The Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association (LFVPPEA), National Chamber of Exporters (NCE), National Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council.

The Ceylon Chamber particularly thanked the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his intervention in the matter and for actively engaging the business community.

Previously, the SVAT system was to be abolished on 1 January 2017, as announced in Budget 2017, but was subsequently postponed to 1 April 2017 subsequent to meetings the private sector had with the Prime Minster in early January.

The Ceylon Chamber, together with other private sector stakeholders, made strong submissions to the Government to maintain the current SVAT system until a robust VAT refund mechanism was put in place. This submission is available for download on the CCC website www.chamber.lk.