The benefit of saving foreign reserves is much more than the loss of tax revenues from the suspension of vehicle imports since May 2022, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya stated.
According to a Finance Ministry statement, the State Minister pointed out that the government reports Rs. 155 billion in tax revenue annually through vehicle imports.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, State Minister Siyambalapitiya revealed that the government lost tax revenue of Rs. 620 billion due to the ban on the importing of vehicles between 2022 -2023.
“In 2018, tax revenue of Rs. 192 billion was reported through the importing of vehicles, while Rs. 346 billion was spent on importation. In 2019, tax revenue of Rs. 122 billion was reported through the importing of vehicles, while Rs. 225 billion was spent for this purpose,” he said.
State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya added that future relaxation of vehicle imports will prioritise motorcycles, public transportation vehicles, and industrial vehicles. (NewsWire)
