Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dr. Harsha de Silva revealed that the tax arrears owed to the State by the Department of Excise amount to approximately seven billion rupees.
He emphasised that if the Excise Department strictly implements the law, the Government can collect this tax money without any issues.
However, due to their failure to do so, the State stands to lose this revenue.
Dr. de Silva suggested that introducing a digital system for the Excise Department would help streamline tax collection from alcohol producers, who fail to pay their dues.
This digital system would help prevent irregularities in tax collection by excise officers.
These remarks were made during a scholarly lecture organised by the Advocata Institute in Colombo recently.
Dr. de Silva noted that the Excise Department currently lacks a formal digital system for tax collection and relies on traditional methods.
He also mentioned instances where he discovered large-scale fraud related to stickers on alcohol bottles, highlighting the need for digitisation within the department to address such theft and fraud.
(Ceylon Today)
