A special Inland Revenue Department Counter will be opened at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport Departure Lounge by Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera today (11).
This counter will reimburse foreign tourists with the 15% VAT charged for VAT entitled goods they have purchased within the country at the time of their departure, said the Finance and Mass Media Ministry in a statement issued yesterday.
This scheme proposed in the 2018 budget is implemented by the Department of Inland Revenue.
Owners of business institutions should register the names of their institutions with the Inland Revenue Department to enter this VAT reimbursement scheme. Already, 18 trade establishments dealing in goods and garments had registered themselves with the department to enter this scheme.
This VAT reimbursement proposal made in the 2018 Budget was a step towards establishing Sri Lanka as a Trading hub in Asia and attracting more foreign tourists to the country. This tax reimbursement scheme was already implemented by many countries to attract foreign tourists. Sri Lanka too would gain world attention once this scheme was started here too. Attraction of more tourists would help boost the country’s economy too.