Nine leading local liqour manufacturers have defaulted on taxes to the tune of Rs. 6,000 million, said excise chief Kapila Kumarasinghe.
According to him, as much as Rs. 2,000 million of the dues are fees for delaying the payments.
Kumarasinghe met with the alcohol producers on June 27 to discuss these unpaid taxes.
The producers claimed a 36 per cent annual late fees was unreasonably high.
One of the highest defaulters remains closed for some time, and they asked that the late fees and interest for the duration of the closure be written off.
Some of these distilleries belong to politicians.
