Dharma Sri Abeyratne and Jayasiri Munasinghe
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that the proposed property tax will be implemented after the first quarter of 2025.
“Ninety percent of people are not subject to this tax. This property tax will not be implemented this year as the process has to be fine-tuned.
It is expected to be implemented after the first quarter of 2025. The richest people in our country are about 10 percent of the whole society. They will have to pay this tax. Ninety percent of the people have the benefit from the tax. We can reduce the amount of tax they have to pay as indirect tax in the future,” the State Minister said.
“Considering the remaining 10 percent, no property tax will be charged on their first asset. A small percentage of other assets contributes to the state revenue. The Government will not bring in a tax proposal that the people cannot afford, State Minister Siyambalapitiya added.
He further said that this is not an indirect tax and no one can change this.
“However, it is wrong to say that this will be the end of the common man,” the State Minister said.
