Ranil Wickramasinghe, who earlier said that agreements entered with the International Monetary Fund cannot even be discussed, let alone amended, has now expressed that he would revisit an agreement with them to amend the PAYE TAX. The analysts have paid close attention to this announcement, as it is made on the eve of the presidential election’s postal voting.
They point out that Ranil Wickramasinghe has made two kinds of promises targeting postal votes. Raising the minimum limit for taxation on monthly salaries and promising a massive increase in the salaries of government employees next year.
Meanwhile, they have revealed, with data, how increasing the taxes levied on consumer goods for this year will put an unlimited additional burden on the people. The expected indirect tax revenue for this year
is 2,740 billion rupees, and when the tax revenue is divided by the total 5.7 million family units in the country, an indirect tax burden of 480,701 rupees has been imposed on one family this year. It was 303,860 rupees in 2023, and the indirect tax burden imposed on one family this year is 176,841 rupees more than last year.
Pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) direct tax has also been added to further the immense pressure faced by public servants in the face of this unlimited tax burden. It shows that even the terms of the IMF agreement, which Ranil Wickremesinghe says cannot be changed, are amended as election promises to government employees to gain an advantage in postal voting.
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