Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, at a meeting with trade unions affiliated to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), said the main objective of the new Inland Revenue Act was to simplify the tax system to create an investor-friendly environment.

The Minister said the envisaged new Inland Revenue Bill would broad base the present tax system and create an investor-friendly environment to attract more Foreign Direct Investment into the country.

Minister Samaraweera said the present tax system was complicated and difficult to understand and that the new Inland Revenue Bill would incorporate globally accepted tax principles to deal with international cross border relations.

The Minister invited the employees of the IRD to submit their proposals on the Act and to discuss any other issues they faced, saying he was prepared to consider the trade unions’ concerns in order to enhance tax revenue in the island.