The Finance Ministry is fast losing faith in the public eye due to its double-standards in imposing taxes, said MP Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The ministry was not enforcing the law against powerful companies that cause billions of rupees of losses to the country, but is burdening the average citizen with taxes, he told parliament yesterday (21).
Ranawaka urged the Finance Ministry to exercise honesty in tax-collection by collecting dues instead of targeting professionals with various taxes.
Uncollected taxes last year amounted to Rs. 904 billion, while the banking system is yet to recover Rs. 1,350 billion given on credit, he said.
The Finance Ministry was yet to act against the seven sugar importers who had defrauded Rs. 16,763 million to the state, which is much higher than the losses from the much-hyped Central Bank bond fraud.
It had not collected taxes from the four casinos operating in the country for the past 28 years, and subsequently collected Rs. 72 billion this May, which translates into each having just 20 customers, he pointed out.
Without regulating those four casinos, it is going to give licenses to seven more, said Ranawaka.
With the government forced to bring about considerable economic reforms, the faith in the Finance Ministry is of crucial importance, he noted.
Speaking further, the MP called for the imposition of taxes from digital services by way of bringing back a related bill introduced during the good governance regime.
