Inland Revenue Act 2017 · As enacted · Part II
133. Default assessments
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
Where a taxpayer has failed to file a tax return for a tax period as required under this Act, the Assistant
Commissioner may, based on such evidence as may be available and to the best of his or her judgement, make an assessment (hereinafter referred to as a “default assessment”)
of the tax (including a nil amount) payable by the taxpayer for the period.
The Assistant Commissioner shall serve a taxpayer assessed under subsection (1) with notice, in writing, of a default assessment specifying the following:
the amount of tax assessed;
the amount assessed as penalty (if any) payable in respect of the tax assessed;
the amount of late payment interest (if any) payable in respect of the tax assessed;
the tax period to which the assessment relates;
the due date for payment of the tax, penalty, and interest being a date that is not less than thirty days from the date of service of the notice; and
the manner of objecting to the assessment.
The service of a notice of a default assessment under this section shall not change the due date (hereinafter referred to as the “original due date”) for payment of the tax payable under the assessment, and late payment penalty and late payment interest shall remain payable based on the original due date.
This section shall apply only for the purposes of a tax that is collected by assessment.
A default assessment may be made at any time.
Nothing in this section shall relieve a taxpayer from being required to file the tax return to which the default assessment served under this section relates.
A tax return filed by a taxpayer for a tax period after a default assessment has been served on the taxpayer for the period shall not be a self-assessment return.