The second Tax Symposium of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) got underway on July 13 where experts discussed and delved at length into the tax policy, and the growing demand for improved tax administration, governance, and transparency for the benefit of the economy.
CA Sri Lanka President, Sanjaya Bandara, Vice President Heshana Kuruppu, Chairman of the Faculty of Taxation, Tishan Subasinghe, Chair of the Tax Symposium Committee, Ms. Sarah Afker, Members of Council and acting Chief Executive Officer, Prasanna Liyanage were present.
The two-day event, which concluded on July 14 paid attention to macroeconomics, and the proposals by the IMF, taxation, and the way forward for Sri Lanka.
A key highlight of the forum was the special segment where officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were invited to help participants understand property tax and wealth tax proposals, which will be implemented in due course as per a deal reached between the IMF and the Government.
During the special segment, Economist at the Tax Policy Division of the IMF›s Fiscal Affairs Department, Sebastian Beer, shared his views relevant to the Sri Lankan context.
During his presentation, Beer, who has provided technical assistance to over 20 countries on how to structure their tax policies, helped the audience understand the impact of property taxation and how it will affect the Sri Lankan economy.
Senior Economist of the Fiscal Policy and Sustainable Growth Unit of the World Bank, Alastair Thomas delivered a detailed presentation on wealth taxation in developing economies. He also covered capital income taxation, which is interrelated to issues surrounding wealth tax, while also explaining in detail good tax policy principles and the benefit of introducing such taxes to developing economies.
The first session on “Macro Economics: The BIG Picture” discussed the macroeconomic framework and how Sri Lanka should face the challenge in the current context amidst an economic crisis.
The presenter of the session was Executive Director of Verite Research, Dr. Nishan De Mel, while the panelists were CEO, JB Securities, Murtaza Jafferjee, Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, , Deshal De Mel, Director, Economic Research Department at the Central Bank, Dr. P. K. G. Harischandra, and MD/Chief Executive Officer at Standard Chartered Bank Bingumal Thewarathanthri.
The session was moderated by Vice President of CA Sri Lanka, Heshana Kuruppu.
With the IMF playing a crucial role in supporting the country to strengthen its institutional framework and with tax remaining a key contributor to ensuring the stability and growth of the economy, the second session titled «IMF Proposals and Taxation,» which was moderated by Managing Partner at RTA Sri Lanka, Saman Srilal, brought together four panelists who discussed at length how the IMF can support Sri Lanka in developing its tax policy on post-debt default.
The panelists were Tax Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Thanuja Perera, Executive Vice President at John Keells Group, Ms. Nisreen Rehmanjee, Senior Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Inland Revenue, P. Nandana Kumara and Founder and Partner at Gajma & Co., N. R. Gajendran.
The third session on “International Taxation” focused on the need for Sri Lanka to understand the global trends in taxation, such as digital taxation, transfer pricing, and BEPs, and to emulate best practices for tax administration and tax practices to ensure the country is not lagging when compared with its other counterparts.
The session, which was moderated by Partner at KPMG Sri Lanka, Ms. Sharmila Jayasekara, featured Senior Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ms. Deepani Herath, , Senior Deputy Commissioner, Department of Inland Revenue, Saman Dissanayake, Director , Tax Services at EY Kuwait, Samantha Weerasekara, Director, The Forum Limited, Hiranthi Rathnayake and Senior Partner/Managing Partner at Moore Shisei Tax Corporation, Ms. Mika Yamada. The symposium concluded following the fourth and final session, which took on a discussion format to focus at length on the way forward for Sri Lanka in 2024.
The objective of the session was to outline the key changes Sri Lanka needs for the coming year with special focus on governance, SOE reforms, anti-corruption, and transparency to steer economic growth and stability.
Moderated by Partner - Tax Services at BDO Partners, Ms. Sarah Afker, the panelists comprised, Executive Director at Transparency International Sri Lanka, Ms. Nadishani Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Harsha Fernando, Chief Economist, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Shiran Fernando, and Chairman and CEO at TW Corp, Thilan Wijesinghe