GMOA seeks pre-budget tax relief, says over 2,500 doctors have left since 2021/22

The Government Medical Officers’ Association has asked the government for further tax relief for doctors and other professionals, saying more than 2,500 medical officers have left Sri Lanka since 2021/22 and that taxation is one of the main reasons.

The association said it has submitted proposals to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake ahead of the coming Budget, seeking changes to the tax-free threshold, the tax rates and the income brackets. The 2027 Budget speech is set for 12 November.

The union’s case

The GMOA argues professionals were among those hardest hit by the tax reforms introduced from January 2023, part of the revenue-raising measures adopted after the economic crisis. It acknowledges that the personal income tax structure was later amended, but says the relief was inadequate measured against inflation, living costs and transport expenses.

Some professionals, the association says, still pay close to 36% of their income in direct taxes while also carrying a significant indirect tax burden. It adds that certain allowances have gone unrevised for years and that some additional-duty and holiday payments have been cut.

The fiscal argument

Rather than framing the request purely as a grievance, the GMOA argues the improving economy leaves room to adjust without damaging revenue. It cites government tax revenue exceeding Rs. 5.4 trillion, and says 2025 tax collections came in more than 30% above the expected level.

That claim sits alongside a tax base the government has been actively widening — a taxpayer identification number became mandatory for bank accounts, vehicle registration and land deals from 1 November.

Context and caveats

The GMOA has pressed related claims repeatedly — it sought a transport allowance for specialists posted to remote hospitals earlier this month — and the link it draws between tax policy and medical migration is a long-running union position rather than a new finding.

Two things are not settled by the reporting. The account describes those who left as “specialist doctors and other medical officers” without separating the grades, so the number of specialists within the 2,500 is not established. And no government or Health Ministry response is recorded.

This article rests on a single report of the GMOA’s statement, by Newswire; no verified newsroom reachable at the time of writing had filed its own account of it.