AG tells Supreme Court errant liquor manufacturers have agreed to pay tax arrears before end of November

…Rs 6 bn to be collected

Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle yesterday (13) informed Supreme Court that five liquor manufacturing companies, including W. M. Mendis & Co Ltd and Royal Casks Distilleries (Pvt) Ltd, had agreed to pay tax arrears by the end of this month.

The tax arrears amounted to nearly Rs. 6 billion. The Attorney General informed the SC that the Department of Excise would suspend their licences unless they paid the arrears by 30 Nov.

Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, representing the Excise Commissioner General, informed the court of the decision when a fundamental rights petition filed by social activist Sanjaya Mahawaththa and several others was taken up yesterday (13).

The petition was heard before a bench comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Yasantha Kodagoda, and Priyantha Fernando.

The Additional Solicitor General stated that five liquor manufacturing companies including W. M. Mendis & Co Ltd and Royal Casks Distilleries (Pvt) Ltd, named as respondents, had agreed to pay the arrears by the end of the month.

The three-judge panel ordered a follow-up hearing on 22 Jan, directing the respondents to report on their progress.

The petitioners argued that the prolonged tax defaults had significantly impacted the national economy and requested that the Excise Department enforce the collection of overdue taxes and suspend licences for non-compliance.

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