New taxes not for poor

COLOMBO: The Government has not imposed taxes on passenger transport, lorries transporting goods, tractors used for agriculture or three-wheelers through the Regional Infrastructure Development Levy Bill (Amendment) passed in Parliament on Thursday.

“We will not burden the ordinary masses with additional taxes,” Trade, Marketing Development, Co-operative and Consumer Affairs Minster Bandula Gunawardana told a press-briefing.

He said the levy will only target luxury goods and not basic essentials of the ordinary people. The Government does not need the revenue collected by imposing taxes on the poor.

He said the UNP and the JVP voted against the Bill and created pandemonium and violence in the Chamber. “It is questionable why the opposition parties voted against the Bills. Their uproar showed their dislike to providing relief to the poor,” he said.

This levy will only be imposed to vehicles subjected to excise duty. “Those vehicles not submitted for payment of excise duty, are exempted from this tax imposition,” he said.

“Vehicles with 1600 cc engine are being utilised by the ordinary people and they will be liable to the old tax,” he said. The new tax imposition will only apply to super luxury vehicles with engine capacity above 1600 CC. “We have not imposed a Rs. 50 tax on mobile phones but under the new tax imposition, it has increased from Rs. 2.5 to Rs. 10.”