Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2022

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

s 1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Value Added Tax

(Amendment) Act, No. 13 of 2022.

s 2Amendment of section 25C of Act, No. 14 of 2002

Section 25C of the Value Added Tax Act, No. 14 of 2002 (hereinafter referred to as the “principal enactment”) is hereby amended in subsection (3) thereof as follows:-

(1)

by the substitution in paragraph (f) of that subsection, for the words and figures, “commencing from November 1, 2016, shall be fifteen per centum.” of the words and figures “commencing from November 1, 2016 but ending on or before

December 31, 2021, shall be fifteen per centum;”;

(2)

by the addition immediately after paragraph (f) of that subsection of the following:-

“(g) commencing on or after January 1, 2022, shall be eighteen per centum.”.

s 3Amendment of the First Schedule to the principal enactment

The First Schedule to the principal enactment is hereby amended in paragraph (a) of PART II thereof as follows:-

(1)

by the substitution in item (xxxi) of that paragraph, for the words and figures, “with effect from May 20, 2020.” of the words and figures

“with effect from May 20, 2020, and ending on

December 31, 2021;”;

(2)

by the addition immediately after item (xxxi) of the following new item:–

“(xxxii) on or after January 1, 2022, medical equipment, machinery, apparatus, accessories and parts thereof, hospital furniture, drugs and chemicals donated to a government hospital or the Ministry of Health for the provision of health services to address any pandemic or public health emergency, approved by the

Minister assigned the subject of

Finance on the recommendation of the Secretary to the Ministry of the

Minister assigned the subject of

Health.”.

s 4Validation

Any person who is authorized to collect the Value

Added Tax as provided for in this Act during the period commencing on or after January 1, 2022, and ending on the date on which the Certificate of the Speaker is endorsed in respect of this Act, shall be deemed to have acted with due authority and such collection shall be deemed to have been, and to be, validly made and such person is hereby indemnified against all actions, civil or criminal, in respect of such collection:

Provided that, the aforesaid provisions shall not affect any decision or order made by any Court or any proceedings pending in any Court in respect of any tax collected as provided for in this Act during the said period.

s 5Not to be deemed as a defaulter

For the avoidance of doubt it is stated that, where a specified institution or other person has not paid the tax in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of section 2 of this Act, for any period commencing on January 1, 2022

and ending on the date of the commencement of this Act, pays the amount of tax payable by such intitution or person, on or before the twentieth day of the succeeding month of the date of the commencement of this Act, such specified institution or person shall not be deemed to be a defaulter in terms of the provisions of the principal enactment.

s 6Sinhala text to prevail in case of inconsistency

In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.