Sri Lanka ODI captain Charith Asalanka and Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva have filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal, seeking an order to quash the Inland Revenue Department’s decision to levy withholding tax on players of the Sri Lanka national cricket team by classifying them as employees of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The petition was taken up before the Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir, and Justice K.P. Fernando. The court decided to call the case again on March 28 to confirm the facts.
The two cricket captains have named the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, its Deputy Commissioner, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, the Executive Committee members, and the Auditor General as respondents.
According to the petition, the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, at its meeting held on January 17 last year, decided to classify national-level players contracted with SLC as employees working on a contract basis.
The petitioners argue that this decision is completely contrary to the law. They further state that national-level players are not contributors to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) or the Employees Trust Fund (ETF).
The cricketers have requested the Court of Appeal to issue writs nullifying both the SLC’s decision to classify national players as employees and the Inland Revenue Department’s decision to impose withholding tax based on this classification. They claim that treating them as employees and imposing withholding tax has caused serious prejudice to the national players.
Additionally, the petitioners have requested an interim injunction to prevent the implementation of the Inland Revenue Department’s decision until the petition is fully heard and a final decision is delivered.
They further stated that after Sri Lanka was granted Test status in 1983, players representing the national team began signing written contracts with the Cricket Board, particularly after the country’s historic World Cup victory in 1996.
