Inland Revenue Act 2017 · As enacted · Part II
176. Penalties
Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
This section shall apply to penalties under this
Act.
Procedures for the assessment, payment, collection, and dispute of a tax shall apply equally to penalties relating to a tax.
A person’s liability for a penalty under a section in this Chapter is separate and distinct from the person’s liability, if any, for a penalty under another section of this
Act or any other law and is in addition to interest levied under Chapter XV and to a criminal sanction imposed under
Chapter XVIII.
The burden of proof shall be on the Commissioner-General to show non-compliance with the provisions of this
Act with respect to the imposition of a penalty.
The Commissioner-General may make an assessment of a penalty charged as if the penalty were tax payable under this Act, and may specify the date on which the penalty is payable.
A notice of an assessment of a penalty shall be served on the person who is laible to the penalty and shall state the amount of the penalty payable, the provision under which it is payable, and the due date for payment, and on service of the notice —
the notice and the assessment shall be treated as if they were a notice and assessment of tax payable under this Act;
the amount of the penalty specified in the notice shall be treated as tax payable under this Act; and
the due date for payment is the date specified in the notice.
A person’s liability to pay a penalty shall arise on the making of an assessment by the Commissioner-General under subsection (6).
The period of limitations for assessing a penalty shall be five years after the violation which causes the penalty, except for a violation under section 180, in which case the limitation for assessing a penalty shall be the same as the limitation for assessing the tax to which the penalty relates.
If a person liable for a penalty shows reasonable cause, the Commissioner-General may—
refrain in whole or in part from assessing the penalty; or
remit or waive in whole or in part a penalty that has been assessed.
A penalty payable for each day, month or other period during which a particular state of affairs exists or continues, shall be payable in full for part of that day, month or other period in which the state of affairs commences, continues or ends.