Major liquor brand on the brink? W.M. Mendis given final warning

November 12, 2024 at 6:35 PM

The Department of Excise has issued a warning to W.M. Mendis & Company, stating that the company’s liquor manufacturing license will be suspended if it fails to settle outstanding VAT arrears by November 30.

This follows a recent court ruling by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, which sentenced W.M. Mendis Director Arjun Aloysius and two others to six months in prison for defaulting on Rs. 3.5 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) payments owed by the company.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) filed the case, revealing that the VAT arrears were accumulated between 2016 and 2019.