Rs. 27 b losses in excise revenue due to COVID situation, COPA told

• Excise Commissioner says Dept. will short fall of projected revenue 
• Dept. had projected Rs. 160 b in revenue  

The Government has lost Rs. 27 billion in excise revenue this year due to the current COVID situation, Commissioner General of Excise M.J. Gunasiri has informed the Committee meeting on Public Accounts (COPA). He said that although the projected revenue of the Excise Department this year was Rs. 160 billion, it was difficult to achieve it in the current situation.

He made these remarks at the COPA meeting held to inquire into the Auditor General’s Report for 2019 and the current performance of the Excise Department. COPA is chaired by MP Tissa Vitharana.

Although the Excise Department, the Customs Department and the Inland Revenue Department had made recommendations at a COPA meeting in 2019 to set up a computer system that would be interconnected, the committee discussed at length that it had not yet been implemented.

While the committee emphasised the need to implement a computer software system to correct the process of calculating the Excise Revenue of the Department, attention was also drawn to the fact that the project had not been implemented properly despite the allocation made in the Budget and Supplements for 2016 and 2018.

Gunasiri informed the committee that work had already started on installing a computer system. He was then directed by the committee to provide a time frame for the installation of this computer system, along with a defined plan, before 5 November.

Delays in the provision of safety stickers for liquor bottles and liquor-related products and the delay in the development of a secure sticker management system were also discussed at this meeting aimed at increasing Government revenue.

Excise officials said that the process had been delayed due to factors such as the need to implement digital technology by major manufacturing companies and the prevailing COVID situation. The COPA Chairman instructed officials of the Excise Department to expedite this process.

State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna stated that the above projects should be expedited in order to obtain the proper revenue due to the Excise Department, which is the third highest revenue earner for the Government. 

The Committee strongly emphasised the need to expedite the implementation of these recommendations made by COPA without further delay.

State Ministers Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Prasanna Ranaweera and MPs Tissa Attanayake, Ashok Abeysinghe, Upul Galappaththi, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Faizal Cassim and B.Y.G. Ratnasekera, Secretary to the Treasury and Ministry of Finance S.R. Attygalle were present at the meeting held.