The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, in a statement released yesterday, said it welcomed the decision by the Ministry of Finance to postpone the abolition of the Simplified Value Added Tax  (SVAT) system that was due to come in to effect on 1st April 2017.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce welcomes the decision by the Ministry of Finance to postpone the abolition of SVAT system that was due to come in to effect on 1st April 2017 following joint submissions made by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), Exporters Association of Sri Lanka (EASL), The Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers, Processors and Exporters Association (LFVPPEA), National Chamber of Exporters (NCE), National Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and Sri Lanka Shippers' Council,’ it said.

It said it particularly thanked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his intervention, actively engaging with the business community.

The SVAT system was to be abolished on 1st January 2017 as announced in Budget 2017, but was subsequently postponed to 1 April 2017 subsequent to meetings the private sector had with the Prime Minster in early January.

The Ceylon Chamber together with other private sector stakeholders made strong submissions to Government to maintain the current SVAT system until a robust VAT refund mechanism is put in place.