Sri Lanka renews membership of global tax transparency initiative

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has renewed its membership of the global tax transparency initiative of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to fight tax dodging.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal by Finance & Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera to pay 30,000 Euro as membership payment for the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.

A government statement said Sri Lanka joined the BEPS initiative in 2016 and continuing membership would prove advantageous.

The OECD’s project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, known as BEPS, is meant to prevent tax evasion and avoidance especially by digital economy firms.

The OECD has helped train Sri Lankan tax officers on the BEPS project to prevent companies using tax loopholes to shift profits to jurisdictions where they pay no oor little tax.