Just 20 companies collect 50% of the Govt. revenue excluding import taxes!

It is time the Govt. published the list of 20 companies that collect most of the taxes for the Govt. and at least recognize they are the greatest of service to the Govt. as without their private business making money, the Govt. would be not just broke, every MP will have to be thrown into the Diyawanna!

In this list are all the Telcos, Ceylon Tobacco, the main Liquor Companies, one or two of the main Supermarket Chains and the Banks. A staggering Rs500B of the 1 Trillion of Govt. revenue, excluding the Customs Duties which are also easy to administer as it is on import, and therefore easy to ensure full compliance, if the products are properly classified and Customs corruption minimized. We expect these duties including Car Duties to be 1 Trillion.

The PEOPLE MUST KNOW who they are, so that even if you object to drinking or smoking, you must at least give them thanks for being the defacto tax collectors of the State!

Inland Revenue commissioner, just 100 people work in the department to collect this 500Billion, and you have another 25,000 people collecting the other Rs500Billion.

As I have mentioned in the previous blog entry, your system of collection is very regressive, with the poor paying most of the Taxes in this Country, especially food as well, as liquor, tobacco and telecom.

Now you are about to squeeze them further on VAT, so to be fair, teach your staff to find out ways of taxing those who are NOT with tax files but who are earning more than Rs2m a year, who I estimate at about 250,000 people from whom you can collect Rs50Billion.

Try to get your staff to work smart, and start at the top. I have already noted this in the blog, as to who to start with. Any person will be able to give you the list of the 5,000 people you can send 5,000 staff to check on, as they are the big fry from whom you can collect about 20B within days.

I am NOT advocating CGT, Wealth Tax or Inheritance Tax, as sometimes people are taxed twice, once while it is earned, and then just for having it! Start with taxing the Rs40M earned by the MPs when they sell their US$75,000 car permit, that will bring you a lot of goodwill, as people will finally realize that all are treated equal in a Yahapalanaya Country.

We must educate our people on the facts, don’t leave them in the dark anymore!