The Court of Appeal on Monday (31 August) issued a writ order quashing the decision of the Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to impose Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) on members of Sri Lanka’s national Test and ODI cricket teams.
The ruling was issued by the Court of Appeal while delivering its judgment on petitions filed by a group of cricketers representing Sri Lanka’s Test and ODI teams.
However, the Bench, consisting of its President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando, noted that the order was issued without prejudice to any decisions that may be taken by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue on the matter in the future.
The petition was filed by Sri Lanka Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva, then ODI captain Charith Asalanka and several members of the national women’s cricket team, seeking a writ order to invalidate the decision of the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue to treat them as employees of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and deduct Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) from their payments.
During the hearing, the Court observed that the recent amendments to the Inland Revenue Act (IRA) had introduced a separate category for independent service providers and that individuals falling under this classification were not liable for APIT.
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