A Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) government, if elected, will renegotiate the Personal Income Tax (PIT) minimum threshold with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), former Minister and party member Eran Wickremeratne said.
Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, MP Wickremeratne said the PIT minimum threshold will be renegotiated with the IMF to be increased to a minimum rate of up to Rs. 250,000.
According to Co-Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardana, the initial minimum taxable monthly income proposed by the IMF was Rs. 45,000, but the government later managed to negotiate and increase it up to Rs. 100,000, he pointed out.
MP Wickremeratne said that he was of the view that the minimum taxable income should be set at Rs. 250,000, as some earners are required to look after themselves and their families, and cannot be considered a “burden” to the State.
The SJB MP emphasized that it was essential not to make the working class dependent on the state for welfare benefits, adding that creating an increasingly dependent class will be like trying to solve one problem by creating a bigger one.
The revised personal income tax rates came into effect from 1 January onwards in a bid to increase government income. (NewsWire)