Under the current Electric vehicle import permit scheme dedicated to overseas workers the government is preparing to increase the Luxury Tax from million rupees to 12 million rupees Chair of the Committee of Public Finance Dr.Harsha De Silva said in Parliament today (10). He further said that the Committee of Public Finance did not approve the proposal made by the Finance Ministry.
Informing the Parliament Dr. Harsha further said that it is not fair to tax with such a big amount while the car seekers are already paying a relatively big amount to afford their desired vehicle.
He further said that the committee was able to identify some irregularities under this Duty-Free Electric Vehicle import permit scheme. Although it has been designed based on the foreign currency remittances by foreign job holders they were not benefitted.
” 68 percent of these electric vehicles have been imported by only two companies. That was a considerable fact. Also, there are instances of under-invoicing.
With the knowledge of such issues, we appointed a committed representing Finance Ministry, Customs, Central Bank, Fiscal Department, and Immigration and Emigration to look into this matter. The committee report also highlights some people have misused the import facility.
The Committee studied all reports related to this matter. Also, all the reports are submitted to the Parliament. I request the Finance Ministry to study all the reports and do a thorough investigation on the Electric vehicle scheme currently opened for overseas workers. ” Said Dr.De Silva
Dr. Harsha De Silva further said that the Committee of Public Finance approved the finance ministry’s proposal to import vehicles needed by the tourism industry. Accordingly, COPF approved the import scheme of 250 buses and 750 small coaches for the tourism industry.
