The Inland Revenue Department’s head office is heavily congested as large numbers of people arrive to obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number, a day after the TIN became compulsory for eight categories of transaction.
Commissioner General of Inland Revenue Rukdevi Fernando described the congestion at a news conference in Colombo on Monday, Hiru News reported.
What the department is asking people to do
Department media spokesman Nandana Kumara asked the public to use the online route to obtain a TIN rather than presenting themselves in person, and to avoid visiting regional offices unless there is an essential reason to do so.
Registration and verification are handled through the IRD’s e-Services platform.
Why the queues formed now
The requirement took effect on Sunday 1 November. From that date a valid TIN certificate must be produced for eight everyday transactions, among them opening a bank or financial institution account, registering a motor vehicle, renewing a motor vehicle licence, registering land or title to land, and obtaining a credit card.
Holding a TIN is mandatory for every resident individual who was 18 or older as at 31 December 2023, and for anyone reaching 18 on or after 1 January 2024 — a population far larger than the number of people who actually file tax returns, which is the gap now showing up as queues.
The full list of transactions and the legal basis for the requirement are set out in our earlier report on the TIN certificate becoming mandatory from November 1.
What has changed is the enforcement point. Officials processing the listed transactions were instructed to confirm a valid certificate before completing them, which turns a registration obligation into a counter-level checkpoint — and concentrates demand on the days immediately after the deadline.
Sourcing and what is not reported
This account rests on a single verified newsroom. The Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing, checked while this was written, had carried the underlying rule change but not Monday’s congestion or the news conference. Aggregator sites have reported queues at IRD offices more broadly, but they do not count as verified sourcing for this desk and have not been used. Ada Derana remains blocked.
Hiru does not say how many people have registered since the rule took effect, how many TINs have been issued in total, how long the online process is taking, or whether the e-Services platform is coping with the volume. It does not report whether the department will extend any deadline or add counter capacity, and it gives no figure for the backlog.
