The five liquor production companies whose licences were recently suspended owe tax arrears amounting to Rs. 2,715 million to the government, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya informed the Parliament.
Briefing the Parliament yesterday, the State Minister said the total tax default with the three per cent penalty for default stands at Rs. 6,721 million.
Stating that the outstanding taxes cannot be collected by closing these companies, State Minister Siyambalapitiya said they have been given a deadline of December 29 this year to settle their tax arrears.
He further said that the licences of four liquor manufacturing companies have already been suspended due to their failure to pay tax arrears.
However, among the companies, only one company has entered into legal proceedings, so the relevant licence has been extended until November 13, which is the next court date, the State Minister revealed.
State Minister Siyambalapitiya added that the licences of the five companies will not be extended and legal action will be initiated thereafter.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya made the statements in response to a question raised by Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa.
Earlier in November, it was reported that the licences of Synergy Distilleries (Pvt) Ltd, Finnland Distilleries Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, Wayamba Distilleries, W M Mendis & Co Ltd and the Randenigala Distilleries Lanka (Pvt) Ltd were suspended.
Sri Lanka’s Excise Department said at the time that the licences of the five liquor manufacturing companies were suspended after their annual licences had not been renewed due to the failure to pay tax arrears. (NewsWire)