“The Government has announced a number of measures to support information technology businesses during the COVID-19 recovery in the form of new or extended incentives to promote investment and encourage opportunities to retain and create more jobs” said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of eCybersec, Sanjee Balasuriya (Pictured).
“The changes announced in the 2021 Budget seek to reverse these more recent proposed cuts and instead enhance the benefits available under the program. Effectively, there will be very few companies that will be worse off under the new announcement compared to the current program and many claimants will be better off.”
“The bringing forward of already legislated personal tax cuts are a key feature of Budget 2021, along with a range of measures to stimulate business investment and job growth”
“These concessions will no doubt be welcomed by many medium-sized IT businesses and go some way to removing the various differential tax treatments that have applied over many years.”
“However, a number of other tax concessions which continue to be only accessible to smaller businesses such as the rollover relief for a genuine business restructure and the small business.”
“Providing a key platform to pay Special Goods and Services Tax will be a significant move in this 2020 budget announced by the government.”
The Government in Budget 2021 has also decided to provide potential changes to the current cybersecurity laws in the country by introducing new laws in relation to data security, cyber security and intellectual property which will facilitate and enrich the current setup. Furthermore, the Government has decided to allocate Rs. 8 billion for the expansion of the technology sector and establish five technological parks across the country through this budget proposal.
Balasuriya said, “Recent events have demonstrated the need for government and business to look at cyber risks through a broader lens.”
“The most important point is to recognize this as an issue of the whole society, where we need to take coordinated and collective responsibility. Failure to do this will impact our ability to securely enable the workforce of the future and potentially threaten our economic recovery.”
